LONDON (ShareCast) - The former Chairman of online fashion sensation Asos (Other OTC: ASOMY - news) has set out plans to float an Indian copycat online retailer on London's AIM.

Koovs has set out plans to raise £22m with its initial public offer (IPO), according to the Financial Times.

Lord Waheed Alli, the media baron who chaired Asos between 2003 and 2012, is chair of Koovs and has brought in former Asos director Robert Bready as Creative & Retail Director, who will be backed by a design and buying team based in London.

Bangalore-based Koovs was founded in 2010 as a daily deals website, but switched course to 'lifestyle e-tailing' in 2012 when a large stake was taken by Anant Nahata, scion of the family that runs India's HFCL telecoms group.

Koovs, which even has adopted a very similar website design to Asos, now focuses on affordable western fashion rather than Indian ethnic clothing, aping celebrity fashions to appeal to middle-class working men and women aged 18-30 years, exactly like the London-based company.

The owners plan to float about 35% of the company with 44% owned by the Nahata family, 11% by Lord Alli and the remainder with management.

BY Anand Rai
Although there are a few products e-com ventures which are part of other listed firms, Koovs becomes the first pure pay Indian e-commerce venture to go public.
Lifestyle e-commerce venture Koovs listed with around 20 per cent bump in its share price on debut at London’s junior stock market AIM, becoming the first non-travel e-commerce venture in the country to go public. The public issue was fully underwritten.

The firm was trading at around 180-185 pence a share on day 1 on Monday as against the issue price of 150 pence a share. This gives it a market cap of around £44 million ($74 million).

The company said it is picking 57.5 per cent in Koovs India for £16.5 million, valuing the venture at £28.7 million or $48 million.

Koovs Marketing Consulting Private Limited (Koovs India) was established in May 2010 by Rajesh Kamra, Manish Tewari, Kanishk Shukla and Amit Shukla as a general e-commerce business. In August 2011, Infotel E-Commerce Private Limited, a company controlled by the Nahata family in India, acquired a controlling interest in Koovs India, initially focusing on the sale of mobile phones and other electronic goods. It later pivoted to become e-tailer of fashion apparel and accessories.

In September 2012, Silvergate Retail Limited (now known as Koovs plc), which was founded by British businessman turned politician Waheed Alli and retail industry executive Robert Bready, who has previously worked at ASOS and Arcadia, got associated with Koovs India. In April last year, Alli and Bready joined Koovs as chairman and creative & retail director, respectively.

As per the plan, Koovs plc is subscribing to shares of Koovs India and will become its majority (57.5 per cent) owner. Under Indian foreign investment norms, foreign direct investment (FDI) in B2C e-commerce retailing is prohibited.

To comply with the rules, the organisation structure has been overhauled with Koovs India now operating exclusively as a wholesale trading entity supplying branded and private label fashion products to Indian firm Marble E-retail Private Limited. Marble E-retail, which is independently owned and managed, now operates the Koovs.com retail e-commerce website under licence from Koovs India.

This structure is similar to various Indian e-commerce ventures which have raised foreign funding without violating the regulations.

Although there are a few products e-commerce ventures which are part of other listed firms such as HomeShop18 (which is part of Network18), Rediff and 123greetings (IntraSoft Technologies), Koovs becomes the first pure pay Indian e-commerce venture to go public.

Among others, online travel agency MakeMyTrip went public a few years ago in the US and Just Dial, which floated in Indian bourses last year, is embedding a transaction marketplace to its business search site.

It raised £22 million ($37 million) by floating on London’s junior stock market AIM. AIM is a sub-market of the London Stock Exchange, which allows smaller companies to float shares with a more flexible regulatory system than is applicable to the main market.

After listing, Alli’s holding in Koovs plc has shrunk from 49.9 per cent to 19.6 per cent; Exicom Tele-Systems (Singapore) Pte. Limited, a company connected with Anant Nahata, now holds 15 per cent as against 38.4 per cent previously and Bready’s stake has shrunk from 8.9 per cent to 3.5 per cent. Institutional investors BlackRock Fund Managers, Hargreave Hale, Henderson Global Investors, JO Hambro Capital Management and JPMorgan Asset Management (UK) now hold 7.1 per cent each while and Smith & Williamson Investment Management owns 5.9 per cent, with the remaining 20.5 per cent stake with other small shareholders.

The firm said it intends to build the Koovs private label, bring strong international brands to the Indian consumer; to extend Koovs.com's fashion credentials by bringing both established and new designers through exclusive design collaborations among others.

The funds will be used by Koovs to build stock, step up marketing and fund operating losses as the business continues its growth trajectory.

(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)

London Evening Standard:

Koovs makes AIM debut in style
Shares in Koovs, the Indian online fashion retailer, shot to a hefty premium when they started trading on the junior AIM stock market today. Placed at 150p, the shares jumped to 181.5p. That capitalises the company, which raised £22 million, at £43.6 million. Koovs was founded by Lord Waheed Alli and Robert Bready, former product director of Asos. Most of the placing proceeds will be spent buying Koovs India

Nice rise today - it's certainly not had much publicity when you consider the management team in my opinion.

Still just me so far here - there's so much chat on Boo Hoo for this Friday but this I think could be the long slow burner. Up c. 15% today.

Well done Greyhound!

I have been watching the sp and your posts, but I tend to steer clear of retail (high street or internet) as I don't really understand why some are 'here today, gone tomorrow' and others seem to be popular for a while.
Presumably this guy is also putting ASOS's nose out of joint?

Hi guys, I've spent quite a bit of time looking at the demographics of India - very young population with an increasing amount of disposable income. Even a small percentage of this market is going to have a significant impact but it is likely to take years. I remember the set backs with Asos all too clearly when they were c. 50p and their Buncefield warehouse went up. Nice one to tuck away in the ISA and only 3 weeks until we have another allowance. Internet retail can adapt much more quickly to market trends than the high street.

Hi Greyhound, could a better chart be put in the header as that one's not very informative please.,.

Well done Greyhound.

Balerboy - lol !

WHAT.... ok eventually a better chart with vol, and macd would be nice.,.

That s a great chart ... if you bought yesterday !!! :))

Good on you Greyhound .

Beats Pets At Home!

Market cap exceeds £50m so will be a nice addition for niche funds

Balerboy, done.

lol, maybe i was a little premature but thanks anyway. I'd forgotten it had only just been launched.

I think thats a lampshade i see forming on the chart.

I wondered what you wanted to see ;) Better for the longer term though.

JP Morgan Asset Management raises stake to 7.96%

Just dipped my toe in at 188 for 2000
Found it difficult as EMS is only 600
Tried to get filled at 181 but no joy.