Ratan Tata Backed BlueStone Jewellery Plans Rs 1,500 Cr IPO

BlueStone Jewellery, which is funded by Ratan Tata, is planning an IPO of over Rs 1,500 crore. According to reports, the company would likely dilute 10-12 percent of its shareholding through the IPO, which will include a new issue of shares as well as an offer for sale (OFS).

The company is searching for an unconfirmed and variable value level. It will most likely file the DRHP in a few months. Existing BlueStone private equity investors, led by Kalaari Capital, are expected to sell all or part of their stakes through the OFS.

BlueStone, created in 2011 by Vidya Nataraj and Kushwaha, offers to ship in-house-made jewellery to 25,000 postcodes in India as well as Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. It also has 65 physical sites across Chennai, Bengaluru, Mumbai, New Delhi, and Hyderabad.

BlueStone’s two manufacturing plants are in Mumbai. In 2018, it established its first store in Delhi’s Pacific Mall, followed by five more in Chandigarh, Mumbai, and Hyderabad. BlueStone offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, certified jewellery, and lifetime exchange on over 8,000 designs.

According to the analysis, India’s organised retail jewellery market share would rise to 37% in 2025 from 33% in 2020. The Indian jewellery retail sector was worth $64 billion in FY20, according to Technopak. Currently, organised players or local jewellers control around 68 percent of the market.

Titan, which operates under the Tanishq brand, has a market valuation of Rs 2.19 lakh crore, while among the listed companies, Kalyan Jewellers and PC Jewellers are valued at Rs 20,767 crore and Rs 6,129 crore, respectively. Kalyan Jewellers, the sector’s newest publicly traded company, is trading at a 32% discount to its IPO price of Rs 87 in March of last year.

BlueStone, a Bengaluru-based online jewellery platform, wants to open its third manufacturing unit in Jaipur over the next 3-4 months, employing 400 employees. As part of their development strategy, the jewellery retailer will hire across multiple domains such as production, warehousing, logistics, and design roles for their new manufacturing plant in Jaipur.

Existing investors IIFL Seed Ventures Fund, Accel, Kalaari Capital, Ivycap Ventures, Iron Pillar Fund, and Saama Capital collectively invested 14.73 crores in the jewellery store in 2020. So far, the company has garnered $70.1 million in outside funding.

The company’s other two manufacturing factories are located in Mumbai, with a total workspace of 12,000 square feet and a workforce of approximately 500 workers. To satisfy increased demand, BlueStone is rapidly extending its operations across the country, with new warehouses and storefronts appearing in a variety of places. The brand’s new production facility will assist them in meeting rising demand for their products.

BlueStone, which runs the online marketplace Bluestone.com, has hired ICICI Securities, IIFL Securities, Jefferies, and JM Financial as investment bankers for its initial public offering. The proposed share sale is expected to begin in the second quarter of the next fiscal year 2022-23.