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.

Thanks Harry.

On the up.

like a trout looking for mayflies

StockMarketWire.com
Fashion-forward business Koovs said Thursday first-half losses narrowed as costs cuts help offset weaker revenues.

For the six months ended 30 September, the loss before tax narrowed to £6.4m from £7.8m and revenue fell to £2.1m from £3.9m a year earlier.

Operating expenses were reduced by 28% to £5.0m.

Gross order value, representing sales generated on the KOOVS.COM website during the six months to 30 September 2018, fell 32% to £4.8m.

The fall in sales was blamed on a reduction in marketing spend and stock purchases, as the company sought to preserve cash until funding was received.

The company has raised £22m, nearly half of planned £50m raise so far.

'The funding secured in H1 allows us to get back to business and in H2 to date we have restarted marketing activities and expanded the product range, increasing the current trading margin. Longer-term, the successful fundraising represents a transformational opportunity for Koovs to drive sustainable growth, enhance margins and build a path to profitability, with partners that will help us to consistently build our brand, enhance our supply chain, and grow our product range,' said Mary Turner, Chief Executive Officer, Koovs