Azim Premji-backed FabIndia calls off IPO citing rough market conditions

The past year saw a spate of stock market debuts being pushed off after the Initial Public Offerings by biggies such as Zomato and Paytm fizzled out. This year too, a major gold jeweller Joyalukkas from Kerala pulled back its second attempt for an IPO, after raids by ED over hawala transactions to the UAE. Now leading ethnic wear brand FabIndia has also called off its Rs 4,000 crore initial share sale, citing unfavourable market conditions.

Backed by former Wipro chairman Azim Premji, FabIndia had slipped into losses in FY21, but bounced back with a 29 per cent revenue surge in FY22. But with markets falling for seven days in a row due to a sell off, led by the Adani stock crash, FabIndia is preferring to sit out the storm. It has withdrawn the draft red herring prospectus (DHRP) to look at other sources for raising funds.

Mentioning that several ESG-focused funds want to invest in the brand, which focuses on sustainable indigenous Indian handicrafts, FabIndia has maintained that it may reconsider an IPO for the future. Before FabIndia and Joyalukkas, Snapdeal and Boat among other startups have also delayed their IPOs.

Oyo on the other hand has finally decided to move forward with an IPO after calling it off last year, but will have to wait since SEBI had asked for an updated draft. Towards the end of 2022, namkeen brand Bikaji had also pulled off a successful IPO.