NEW DELHI: Imagine Marketing, the parent company of audio & wearables brand boAt, has raised Rs 500 crore from existing shareholders, a Warburg Pincus affiliate, and new investor Malabar Investments.
With this fundraising, it has put on hold IPO plan and is likely to reconsider listing in next 12-18 months, as per a source. Earlier, it had filed a draft prospectus with the Securities Exchange Board of India (Sebi) for a Rs 2,000 crore initial public offering (IPO).
The IPO consisted of a fresh issue of shares of up to Rs 900 crore and an offer for sale of shares up to Rs 1,100 crore. boAt’s plans to delay its IPO at a time when major start-ups like Oyo and PharmEasy are least enthusiastic to go public due to tough market and record fall in the valuation and share prices of listed firms such as Zomato, Paytm and PolicyBazaar. boAT said the fundraising will fuel expansion into the fast-growing smartwatches category while cementing leadership in personal audio.
“The firm is raising Rs 500 crore from its existing shareholder, an affiliate of Warburg Pincus, a leading global private equity fund and new investor Malabar Investments,” the company said in a statement.