Milky Mist is planning to raise funds via initial public offering (IPO), reported MoneyControl citing sources familiar with the matter. The paneer-to-ice cream maker is looking to expand its dairy product portfolio to take on its arch rival Amul, said the report.
The report said that a number of marquee Indian investment and merchant bankers have been pitching to the company to seek the mandate to take the company public. The move is buzzing after Milky Mist’s talks with WestBridge to raise funds failed to yield any fruits for the company.
WestBridge valued the Tamil Nadu-based company around Rs 6,000 crore in a round last year. However, the IPO could happen at a Rs 20,000 crore ballpark valuation, as it looks to rapidly expand its newer offerings such as chocolates and ice creams and enter new markets.
Erode-based Milky Mist was started as a milk trading company in 1985 and the company hogged limelight when it started producing paneer (cottage cheese) in 1994. The company, over the years, expanded to value-added products such as curd, butter, cheese, yogurt and ice cream, tapping into a wide dairy consumer base across the nation.
Milky Mist’s founder T Sathish Kumar is a school dropout. The company is run by Kumar, his wife Anitha Sathish Kumar and chief executive officer (CEO) K Rathnam, who previously served as the managing director at Amul Dairy. It has been engaging with investment and merchant bankers such as Kotak, HDFC, Nuvama, 360 One and Axis to test the waters and go public, said the report.