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.

ouch!!
you've got a lot to make up if you really insist on hanging on

Very droll, Mr C!

StockMarketWire.com
Koovs saw group revenue double to £4.0m (INR366.7m), (H1 FY15: £2.0m (INR199.2m)) in the six months to the end of September.

The loss before tax was £9.1m (INR835m), (H1 FY15: loss of £5.7m (INR571m), in line with expectations as the business continues increase its investment in marketing and technology, to build presence in the market and grow revenues, and expand operational capabilities.

Chief executive Mary Turner said: "It has been another amazing six months of growth for both sales and new customers. We have delivered on both our strategic and financial objectives and are in line with expectations. The increases in our customer base, registered base and social followers will provide an excellent opportunity for future growth. Whilst demonetisation had a short-term impact on the market and ecommerce we have seen good growth in November and had some of our best days for sales in December.

"The Indian online fashion market is projected to grow to £2.5bn by 2020 and the combination of a strengthened management team, our exclusive London based designs and operational expertise in India, mean Koovs is well positioned to capture a significant market share in this rapidly growing market."

if you ever thought that BOO was a flakey company with questionable management, then this lot puts BOO in the shade

Agreed. Think I made the right choice with four times my investment now.

News Item ( not specifically KOOV )..Bangladesh clothing factories closed - Workers strike for $200/month ( DYOR )- so Bosses closed several factories . . . I wonder if this is the start of "robotised" factories? . . . given that Robots can work 24/7 and need little space. . . . a relatively small factory can produce many designs and can stitch little fancies (far better than humans, I'm suggesting ).... so once it's designed it will be possible for on-line Orders to be individually produced, with a little nip/tuck to exactly fit the customer . . . If this extends to men's suiting, we might see the dramatic end to Saville Row . . . the only dev. needed is a laser-measuring device that fits a lift; as Mr Average takes his Misses to the restaurant floor, using a special lift. ( US=elevator).
Still, my Job ( Grumpy ol' man), is safe-enough; until the grim reaper arrives by drone. . . . Is that a buzzing I hear?
EDIT (12Jan2017)..I read TO doubled; but so did losses...Oh well.
EDIT (28Feb2017)-Good Ns from Co .. stocks selling well, but no sp rises...~46p . . . ( 20March...45p)

StockMarketWire.com
Koovs - the fashion business focused on the young Indian e-commerce market - saw sales rise by 101% to £13.45m in the nine months to the end of December.

Koovs said web traffic, registered users and social media were all up over 100% and it had its most successful designer collaboration to date with red-carpet favourites Gauri & Nainika.

A trading update said that sales growth would be affected by demonetisation but with no overall effect on profitability targets for FY2017.

It continued : "Web traffic, registered users and social media followers have all increased by over 100%.

"In addition, the company's strategy to offer unique and exclusive designs, has resulted in the most successful designer collaboration to date.

"Launched in November, the premium party dress collection from red carpet favourites Gauri & Nainika sold out in record time, shipping over 1000 units in three days, 50% of the total collaboration collection."

Chief executive Mary Turner said: "Koovs continues to deliver excellent year on year growth and is now established socially as the favourite western fashion-forward brand in India.

"Despite the impact of demonetisation, we have doubled sales, which is testament to the team's proactive actions, the strength of our brand and the uniqueness of Koovs' fashion-forward product offer."

StockMarketWire.com
Koovs - the London listed fashion-forward online business for the twenty-something Indian consumer - has been named Most Popular Fashion Portal Preferred by Youth at the annual Global Youth Marketing Forum in Mumbai.

The Global Youth Marketing Forum and Awards, organised by CMO Asia (cmoasia.org), provide a platform for youth-obsessed brands from across the globe.

Focusing particularly on fashion, music, technology, sports and lifestyle categories, the event showcases and celebrates the latest expertise and innovation in marketing, customer engagement and social, specifically for the youth market.

Koovs said: "The youth market in India is probably the most attractive globally with the number of affluent young urbanites expected to reach 60m this year, while the market for lifestyle fashion in India is expected to reach $30bn by 2020.

"The Koovs.com portal focuses totally on western fashion for this rapidly expanding demographic."

Chief executive Mary Turner said: "The Koovs customer is twenty-something, urban, aspirational, highly connected to global culture, extremely tech-savvy and avid for western style.

"Our aim is to provide a 360 young fashion lifestyle experience across mobile and desktop, engaging customers through all the marketing channels relevant to today's youth culture.

"We are extremely excited to win this award - recognising our work in building the Koovs brand and Koovs.com as a destination site for the youth market in India."

Koovs plc, (AIM: KOOV).Bollywood sweetheart and style guru Sonakshi Sinha used her considerable social media clout to help fans dream up their ideal Valentine's Day date looks from the KOOVS.COM collection.

Leading up to Valentine's Day across all social media, and inspired by her own personal style and passion for fashion, Sonakshi and #VDAYwithKOOVS engaged with over 3.1 Million users.

Sonakshi, a very young 'veteran' of 19 Bollywood films, has a huge social media following of over 30 million internationally and a background in fashion design, studying at the Shreemati Nathibai Damodar Thackersey Women's University (SNDT).

"Sonakshi was the ideal person to inspire VDAY looks - she is massively followed by young people in India not only for her award-winning film work but she is also seriously invested in fashion having studied fashion and worked the catwalks of Fashion Week." Says Koovs.

StockMarketWire.com
Koovs has announced its strategy to expand into additional high potential markets in Asia-Pacific and the Middle East.

It said the first international distribution agreement, signed today, would launch the Koovs Private Label Collection on SOUQ.com, the leading e-commerce player in the Middle East, this summer.

The company said the Private Label Collection was currently Koovs.com's best-selling single brand, accounting for 40% of sales.

It said that working with international distribution and fulfilment partners would enable the company to leverage in-country expertise in logistics and marketing and ensure Koovs remained focused on India, which was its core territory and the fastest growing e-commerce market in the world today.

Chief executive Mary Turner said: "This is a great opportunity and I am excited to extend the Koovs brand into new territories with our first distribution deal for the Middle East.

"India remains our core market and the Private Label Collection will only be available in India on Koovs.com."

market is about as impressed as i am
i wouldn't touch this company with a bargepole ..... and yes i am well aware that i used to say the same of BOO

I agree up to a point, but the CEO is ex-Asos (look what happened to that stock) and if you had invested a year ago you would have at least doubled your money. Market Cap is low at c£85m and the sector is high risk imo, but a small punt can't hurt! Just don't invest more than you can afford to lose.

or don't invest any money at all!
i recollect that the directors were the main beneficiaries when KOOVS went public and no doubt they continue to fill their swiss bank accounts at any mug investor's expense

I think Panama or the Bahamas are the current favoured tax havens. I believe the Swiss have tightened up ! You might want to move your stash, Mr C! ;o)

mention panama to hmrc and they'll be all over you like a rash!

There's a man that knows......... harry. 😉

StockMarketWire.com
Koovs said sales rose by 87% to £18.6m in the year ended 31 March 2017, underpinned by a year-on-year 100% increase in both units shipped and repeat customers.

Koovs said the number of registered users had risen by 80% to 1.8 million and web traffic was up 77% to over 78.45 million.

Chief executive Mary Turner said: "Koovs's distinctive fashion proposition is really working with our young target market in India.

"Engagement with our young customer is delivering strong growth and we continue to significantly outperform by five-times the e-commerce sector growth in India."

Chairman Waheed Alli added: "India is now well established as the fastest growing economy in the world. Koovs's authentic global fashion is the right proposition at the right time in this major market and there remains huge confidence for its continued growth."

StockMarketWire.com
Koovs has launched its latest 'Private Label' exclusive fashion collaboration with Disney featuring Mickey and Minnie Mouse. Koovs said: "With the new Disney X KOOVS Collection, Koovs has applied its unique design-led approach, combining the iconic, retro cuteness of Disney's original characters with Koovs fashion expertise, to create around 100 modern, cool and trendy 'Pop Art' styles, including everything from shirts and t-shirts to dresses, denim and sneakers, specifically for today's fashion-forward twenty-somethings in India

"This Disney X KOOVS collection is the first in a series with Disney rolling out this year, which will also include Marvel and Star Wars."

Chief executive Mary Turner said: "We occupy a unique position in the market for affordable, authentic, aspirational and design-led western fashion for the young style-conscious customer in India.

"The Disney collaboration is another example of how we differentiate our brand in the market and this approach puts us in a strong position to expand the Koovs Collection into new territories, starting with Souq.com in the Middle East this summer."

but certainly not a unique position in the market for loading up its directors' bank accounts with little or no interest in the investors

StockMarketWire.com
Kooves will be launching a collection the Princess Collection this weekend to coincide with the wedding of the Duchess of Cambridge's sister, Pippa Middleton.

Koovs said the collection had been designed by Daniella Helayel - a favourite designer of the Duchess of Cambridge and Pippa Middleton - and was being launched only in India this weekend.

Koovs said: "The young Royals and British celebs have a huge following in India, so the collection has already created a significant buzz and anticipation amongst Koovs 20-something, style conscious customers.

"The collection features Helayel's signature fun prints, beautiful fabrics and fit and flare styles."