Malwa Industries acquires two denim companies; IPO to fund expansion

Mumbai: Malwa Industries Limited (MIL), the Ludhiana-based vertically integrated denim maker and part of the Rs540-crore Malwa group, has acquired two denim making plants, one in Jordan and the other in Italy.

It has acquired 100 per cent ownership of Third Dimension Apparels in Jordan, which has duty-free access to the US and Europe; it manufactures denim garments for leading international brands,

Its other acquisition is majority ownership in Emmetre Tinto-lavanderie Industriali S r l of Italy, which is involved in dyeing and finishing of garments, including denim garments for fashion labels in Europe.

According to Rishi Oswal, CEO and MD, Malwa industries Limited, "Our acquisition of Third Dimension, an entity that has been servicing orders from leading denim brands has given us a strategic foothold in a garment manufacturing location with duty-free access to the US and European markets. We also provide high end finishing services for denim garments through Emmetre. We are catering to customers in the United States, Europe, India and South Asia, and the Middle East."

MIL has a manufacturing capacity of 20-million meters of denim fabrics and 8.5-million pieces of denim garments. It has undertaken a and a complete vertical integration and expansion-cum-modernisation drive at its fabric manufacturing plant in India to double the fabric manufacturing capacity to 40 million metres.

To finance its expansion, MIL plans to approach the capital markets with an IPO for 20 million shares of R10 at a premium to be decided through a book building process, for which it has filed draft Red Herring prospectus with SEBI.