Milky Mist is planning to raise funds via initial public offering (IPO), reported MoneyControl citing sources familiar with the matter. The paneer-to-ice cream maker is looking to expand its dairy product portfolio to take on its arch rival Amul, said the report.
The report said that a number of marquee Indian investment and merchant bankers have been pitching to the company to seek the mandate to take the company public. The move is buzzing after Milky Mist’s talks with WestBridge to raise funds failed to yield any fruits for the company.
WestBridge valued the Tamil Nadu-based company around Rs 6,000 crore in a round last year. However, the IPO could happen at a Rs 20,000 crore ballpark valuation, as it looks to rapidly expand its newer offerings such as chocolates and ice creams and enter new markets.
Erode-based Milky Mist was started as a milk trading company in 1985 and the company hogged limelight when it started producing paneer (cottage cheese) in 1994. The company, over the years, expanded to value-added products such as curd, butter, cheese, yogurt and ice cream, tapping into a wide dairy consumer base across the nation.
Milky Mist’s founder T Sathish Kumar is a school dropout. The company is run by Kumar, his wife Anitha Sathish Kumar and chief executive officer (CEO) K Rathnam, who previously served as the managing director at Amul Dairy. It has been engaging with investment and merchant bankers such as Kotak, HDFC, Nuvama, 360 One and Axis to test the waters and go public, said the report.
Milky Mist has tried to raise private capital at least thrice in the last decade from investors like Peak XV Partners (formerly Sequoia Capital India) and others, while WestBridge was involved in 2023, said the report. It was advised by Spark Capital on the first two occasions and by Veda in the latest round.
Milky Mist clocked a revenue of Rs 1,437 crore in financial year 2023, reporting a 42 per cent jump from Rs 1,015 crore in FY22. Milky Mist also reported a profit of Rs 28 crore in FY23, which dropped 13 per cent on a yearly basis. It reported a topline of around Rs 1,950 crore and generated a profit of Rs 50 crore in the year ended on March 31, 2024.
Source: Business Today
