Indian Chemicals Maker Rossari Biotech Eyes Up To $100m IPO

Rossari Biotech, a Mumbai-based speciality chemicals maker with focus on textile, home and personal care products and animal health products, is looking to launch an initial public offering (IPO) that could see the company raise up to ₹700 crore, said two people aware of the matter.

“They are going to file their draft IPO prospectus in the next week or later,” said the first person cited above, requesting anonymity as he is not authorized to speak with the media. “The company is planning to raise around ₹600-700 crore through the IPO,” the person said adding investment banks ICICI Securities and Axis Capital are advising the company on the share sale.

Rossari Biotech was founded in 1996 by Edward Menezes and Sunil Chari. The company’s mainstay products include textile speciality chemicals, animal health and nutrition, and home and personal care and performance chemicals. Within the home and personal care products space, its clients include brands such as Lifebuoy, Vim, Comfort, IFB, Bosch, Panasonic and Domex.

“Rossari gets most of its business from domestic sales, which are over 80%. While its textiles business is currently the biggest contributor to revenue today, the home and personal care products category is the fastest growing segment,” said the second person cited above, also requesting anonymity.

For fiscal 2019, the company reported a revenue of ₹515 crore and a net profit of ₹45 crore, he said.

“The company is currently upgrading its existing facility at Silvassa and it is also setting up a new facility in Dahej. This capex will cost the company around ₹100 crore,” the second person added. Emailed queries to Rossari Biotech did not elicit a response.

Several specialty chemicals makers have gone public in the last few years.

In January 2018, Galaxy Surfactants Ltd, maker of surfactants and specialty care ingredients exclusively focussed on catering to the home and personal care industry, raised ₹937 crore through its IPO, while in June, Fine Organic Industries Ltd, which makes oleochemical-based additives used in the food, plastic, cosmetics, paint, ink, coatings etc, raised ₹600 crore through its initial share sale.

This article was first published on livemint.com.