Blackstone-owned International Gemological Institute files DRHP with SEBI to raise nearly ₹4,000 crore via IPO

Blackstone-owned International Gemological Institute (India) Limited filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). The company has plans to raise nearly ₹4,000 crore from the initial public offering (IPO), according to the company's filing on Thursday, August 22.

International Gemological Institute (IGI) is the largest certification player globally for lab-grown diamonds and the second largest certification player globally for natural diamonds.

International Gemological Institute IPO details:

The initial public offering (IPO) comes with a face value of ₹2 per equity share, and it is a mix of fresh issues worth up to ₹1,250 crore and offer for sale up to ₹2,750 crore by BCP Asia II TopCo Pte. Ltd, the promoter of the jewellery certifier, according to the company's regulatory filing on Thursday.

Axis Capital Limited, Kotak Mahindra Capital Company Limited, Morgan Stanley India Company Private Limited, and SBI Capital Markets Limited are the book-running managers for the public issue. KFin Technologies Limited is the registrar for the offer, as per the filling.

The company also disclosed that not more than 75 per cent of the public issue will be allocated to Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIBs), not more than 15 per cent will be allocated to the Non-Institutional Investors (NIIs), and 10 per cent will be available for retail investors, according to the draft papers. 

“Our Company proposes to utilize a portion of the net proceeds towards acquiring 100 per cent of the share capital of IGI Belgium Group and IGI Netherlands Group from our promoter. Following the completion of the proposed acquisitions, our company will become the 100% shareholder of IGI Belgium and IGI Netherlands, and will be responsible for operation of the IGI business globally,” said the company in the DRHP filing. 

According to the filing, the company estimates ₹1,100 crore to be used for the acquisition. 

International Gemological Institute company details:

International Gemological Institute (IGI) was acquired 100 per cent by the investment giant Blackstone from a China-based investment firm, Fosun, and Roland Lorie, who belongs to the founding family, in May 2023, according to the company.

The jeweller certification company has a market share of nearly 33 per cent on the basis of the number of certifications of diamonds, studded jewellery and coloured stones performed in the calendar year 2023, according to a Redseer report quoted in the draft prospectus. The report also forecasted that the global jewellery market is expected to grow 3 per cent to 6 per cent from calendar year 2023 to 2028 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR), and the global diamond consumption is estimated to grow 6 per cent in the same period.