INDIA – Mrs Bectors Food Specialities Limited, a leading supplier of bread and biscuits in India has raised over US$73 million a few hours after its IPO went live in the Indian stock Market.
Mrs Bectors is a leader in India’s pastries segments producing biscuits under the ‘Cremica’ brand and selling a wide range of biscuits such as cookies, creams, crackers, digestive biscuits, and an array of premium breads under the ‘English oven’ brand.
Mrs Bectors Food which is also a supplier of buns to quick-service restaurant (QSR) chains such as McDonald’s, KFC, Burger King and Carl’s Jr among others is said to have a market presence in more than 60 countries globally.
According to a report by India’s Mint, Mrs Bector Food’s IPO comprised of a fresh issue of equity shares worth ₹40.54 crore (about US$5.5 million) and an offer for sale (OFS) by some private equity players worth ₹500 crore (about US$67.9 million).
The funds raised through the IPO will be utilised for brown-field expansion of its Rajpura manufacturing unit and also in establishing a new production line.
Going into the IPO, Mrs. Bectors Food has shown an improvement in its financials over the last three years on various parameters such as margins, cash flows, working capital and borrowings.
The company has improved its EBIDTA margins from 12% in FY18 to 17% in H1FY21 with overall improvement in the gross margins by 400 bps over the same period.
The bread and biscuits company’s revenue from operations jumped from ₹690 crore (about US$93.79 million) in FY18 to ₹762 crore (US$103.57 million) in FY20.
Reports from the company show that in first half of this fiscal (FY21), its revenues had jumped to ₹430.99 crore (about US$58.58 million).
The Mrs Bectors Food IPO comes in the wake of stellar response to Burger King IPO whose shares doubled a few days after listing.
Burger King which raised over US$110 million in the IPO has ambitions of opening up to 700 restaurants, including company outlets and sub franchise entities, by 31 December, 2026.
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