Boat owner Imagine Marketing files draft IPO papers through confidential pre-filing route

Imagine Marketing, the parent of consumer devices maker Boat, has filed draft documents for its initial public offering with the capital markets regulator, the company said on Monday. The filing was made through the confidential route, which allows companies to delay public disclosure of the details.

Filing of the pre-filed draft red herring prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Board of India does not necessarily mean that the company will undertake the IPO, it said.

ET reported in November that the startup had appointed ICICI Securities, Goldman Sachs and Nomura as the bankers for a $300-500 million IPO. Boat is likely targeting a valuation exceeding $1.5 billion, which may change closer to the IPO filing.

The homegrown wearable and audio products brand had in January 2022 filed draft papers for a Rs 2,000 crore IPO, but halted the plan citing market conditions and instead raised $60 million in private capital from existing investor Warburg Pincus and new investor Malabar Investments. It was raised at a minimum valuation cap of around $1.2 billion.

The confidential route gives companies flexibility in determining the issue size in the initial stages, allowing them to revise the number of fresh shares to be issued by up to 50% until an updated DRHP is filed.

The IPO plan comes at a time when shipments of wearable devices in India have been seeing a slowdown, registering an 8.7% year-on-year fall in the December quarter to 25.9 million units, marking the third consecutive quarter of decline, according to data from market research firm IDC India.

Founded in 2015 by Aman Gupta and Sameer Mehta, the New Delhi-based company has raised $171 million to date, according to data from Tracxn. The Warburg Pincus-backed brand recorded revenue of Rs 3,122 crore in FY24 when it managed to reduce its loss by nearly half.