OfBusiness To Completely Acquire Indian Design: Report

SUMMARY

OfBusiness is reportedly set to acquire entire stake in Indian Design months after acquiring a majority share in the garment and home-textile manufacturer

Indian Design, which supplies products to international brands like H&M, GAP, Old Navy, Columbia and IKEA is expected to expand and strengthen OfBusiness’s apparel division

OfBusiness turned into a public company to prepare for its IPO and rechristened itself as OFB Tech Limited from OFB Tech Private Limited

B2B marketplace unicorn OfBusiness is reportedly set to completely acquire garment and home textile manufacturer Indian Design. As per a report by Moneycontrol, the acquisition would see the IPO-bound startup lap up 30% of the remainder stake in the Bengaluru-based company months after it acquired 70% of the company.

Notably, OfBusiness hasn’t made any public announcements pertaining to the financial specifications around the acquisition. Inc42 has reached out to the startup to get more details on the acquisition. The story will be updated upon receiving their response.

For context, Indian Designs Exports is a major design-driven contract manufacturer and exporter of apparel and home furnishings based in Bengaluru. In business since 1993, the company serves large global retailers like H&M, Old Navy and Zara as well as operating its own domestic brand, “Identiti.”

The company reported a consolidated operating income of approximately INR 1,246 Cr in FY24, with a significant improvement in profitability. The strong financial performance is a key reason behind the OfBusiness’ acquisition.

“With this acquisition, our apparel vertical reaches approximately INR 3,000 Cr in revenue, with nearly 80% coming from exports,” OfBusiness’ cofounder Vasant Sridhar reportedly said.

The acquisition might be in line with the startup’s initial public offering (IPO) plans, as it would lead to a stronger top line performance. The startup has been planning for an IPO for some time now, with reports from 2024 asserting a public listing timeline for an up to $1 Bn by late 2025.

OfBusiness was said to have finalised five bankers – Axis Capital, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, Citigroup, and Bank of America – to manage its IPO. Its IPO was expected to have majorly been an offer for sale (OFS) component. Clearly, those plans haven’t materialised till now.

Founded in 2016 by Asish Mohapatra, Ruchi Kalra, Vasant Sridhar, Bhuvan Gupta and Nitin Jain, OfBusiness provides raw material procurement and financing solutions to SMEs operating in manufacturing and infrastructure across sectors through its ecommerce platform.

It helps customers procure raw materials like metals, chemicals, polymers, agri commodities, petrochemicals, and building materials and infrastructure sectors.

The startup has raised close to $900 Mn in its lifetime from investors like Softbank, Tiger Global, Norwest Venture Partners, Alpha Wave, among others. It last raised INR 100 Cr (around $11.7 Mn) from Cornerstone Ventures in April to drive digital adoption and financing access for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

In its last disclosed financial performance for FY24, OfBusiness reported a 30% jump in its net profit to INR 603 Cr from INR 463.2 Cr in the previous fiscal year. Operating revenue also increased over 25% to INR 19,296.3 Cr during the year under review from INR 15,342.6 Cr in FY23.