boAt's parent Imagine Marketing files DRHP via confidential pre-filing route: Report
The confidential pre-filing route allows the IPO-bound company to withhold public disclosure of details under the DRHP until later stages
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Entrepreneur and Shark Tank India judge Aman Gupta's company boAt has filed a Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) through a confidential pre-filing route, PTI news agency reported.
Imagine Marketing, the parent company of boAt, filed the DRHP with the market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Monday.
The confidential pre-filing route allows the IPO-bound company to withhold public disclosure of details under the DRHP until later stages.
However, Imagine Marketing clarified that DRHP does not guarantee the company will go ahead with the IPO.
This marks boAt's second attempt to go public. Previously, the boAt's planned IPO in 2022 but later withdrew due to unfavourable market conditions. It then raised $60 million in private funding.
Sebi introduced a confidential filing route in 2022 for companies to file the DRHP papers confidentially.
This allows companies to shield sensitive business information from competitors, premature public scrutiny, and potential legal troubles.
Recently, Tata Capital and edtech unicorn PhysicsWallah also opted for the confidential filing route.
In 2024, food delivery giant Swiggy and retail store Vishal Mega Mart also floated their IPOs via a similar route.
Notably, Tata Play was the first company in the country to utilize this option for an IPO in December 2022.
The route allows flexibility to the IPO-bound firm to adjust the primary issue size by up to 50%. It also reduces pressure on companies to go public. In the traditional route of DRHP filing, IPOs must be launched within 12 months of Sebi's approval, while in the pre-filing route, companies can float an IPO within 18 months from Sebi's final comment.
boAt, founded in 2013, has become one of the leading domestic brands in India's wearable electronic device market, holding 26.7 percent market share as of the 2nd quarter of 2024.
In FY 2024, the company's losses halved to Rs 70.8 crore and its revenue declined by 5 percent to Rs 3,285 crore.
