FabIndia gears up for IPO, looks to attract ESG investors

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
Mar 18, 2022

FabIndia is preparing for its initial public offering as it awaits clearance from the Indian stock market regulator for its first-time share sale. The business is in talks with environmental, social, and governance funds. 

As FabIndia looks into its potential investor lineup for its upcoming IPO, the business is highlighting its sustainable production and business practices, ET Bureau reported. The business is promoting itself to global investors which are focused on ESG criteria. 
 
“We are ESG in the way we operate in terms of connecting the artisans, the farmers,” FabIndia’s chief financial officer Gopal Mishra told Bloomberg News in an interview. “This is not that we have done something specially for ESG or ticked those green boxes.” 

FabIndia has set aside a little over 0.5% of shares in its upcoming IPO for its artisan network, according to its draft prospectus, and its employees own around 15% of the business. FabIndia aims to raise up to $500 from the IPO at a valuation of around $2 billion.
 
The business sees a successful IPO based on ESG criteria as having the potential to encourage other businesses to adopt ESG practices as part of a shift towards more sustainable business.

FabIndia has retailed for 66 years and, despite reporting a loss during the pandemic, is expected to return to turning a profit in the upcoming financial quarter, according to Mishra.