Multi-brand retailer V-Mart plans IPO to fund expansion

30 Oct '12

2 min read

V-Mart, the multi-brand Indian retail chain, intends to float an initial public offer (IPO) to raise Rs. 1.2 billion to be utilized for opening more outlets.

The company, which presently operates 62 outlets at 52 locations, intends to take this number to 120 by March, 2015 by opening 58 new outlets in 55 new locations, majority being in Tier II and III cities.

While Rs. 1.2 billion of the proposed Rs. 1.8 billion investment would be raised through IPO, the rest would come from internal accruals, V-Mart Retail Chairman and MD Lalit Agarwal said, adding that the company’s current debts stand at around Rs. 450 million.

According to Mr. Agarwal, V-Mart has aggressive expansion plans in Northeast India, and intends to ensure its presence in all the states of the region, Economic Times reported PTI as saying.

The Northeast region has great potential and the same has not yet been exploited by any leading organized retailer, he added.

Informing that they are focusing on four cities – Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Jorhat and Guwahati, he said their survey reveals that there is a scope for opening 18 V-Mart outlets in the entire region, with each of the outlets measuring around 8,000-10,000 sq ft.

After launching the first outlet in Assam in 2014, the company would go ahead with it plans and launch other outlets in different states of the region in 2015, he added.

Employing around 2,200 people at present, the company said this strength would almost double by 2015, as they plan to make 2,000 fresh recruitments for executing the expansion plan.

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