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Mint
2 days ago
- Business
- Mint
BlueStone IPO: Can the digital-first jeweller justify its ₹7,823 crore valuation?
BlueStone, India's second-largest digital-first omni-channel jewellery brand, is stepping into the public markets with an initial public offering (IPO) that is notably cheaper than the ₹578 per share its promoters paid just eight months ago. Priced at ₹492- ₹517, the ₹1,540.65 crore issue raises the question: does this discount outweigh the risks of steep valuations and ongoing net losses? The offer, which opened today, comprises a fresh issue of ₹820 crore and an offer-for-sale worth ₹720.65 crore. Selling shareholders include Accel India, Saama Capital, and Kalaari Capital, each locking in substantial returns of 480%–962% on their early bets. With 275 stores across 117 cities, BlueStone sells contemporary lifestyle jewellery in diamond, gold, platinum, and studded designs. At the upper end of the price band, the IPO values BlueStone at roughly ₹7,823 crore. Of the fresh proceeds, ₹750 crore will fund working capital, with the rest going toward general corporate purposes. But before considering an investment, it's worth unpacking BlueStone's growth drivers, competitive edge, and valuation. How does BlueStone's business model work? BlueStone runs an omni-channel jewellery business under its flagship brand, blending a digital-first, direct-to-consumer (DTC) approach with a rapidly expanding offline presence. It sells through its website and mobile app, as well as its 275 stores across 117 cities, 200 company-owned and 75 franchised. Its online and offline channels are tightly linked: customers often browse designs online before visiting a store, or place orders online for store pickup or home delivery. This integration not only lifts conversion rates but also guides decisions on where to open new stores, boosting the odds of early profitability. Roughly 75% of outlets turn profitable within three months of opening. As of March, the company offered 7,400 designs across 91 collections, including rings, earrings, necklaces, pendants, solitaires, bangles, bracelets, and chains. Studded jewellery is its core strength, contributing 68% of FY25 revenue, far ahead of Titan (27%) and Kalyan (30%). Prices range from under ₹5,000 to over ₹17 lakh, with average order values rising from ₹32,038 in FY23 to ₹47,671 in FY25. Key strengths BlueStone's brand positioning is tuned to changing buying behaviour. In 2024, an estimated 50-60% of jewellery purchases were digitally influenced. The company's online-first approach drives discovery, engagement, and store traffic. Its social reach includes 2.65 million Facebook followers, 713,000 on Instagram, and 161,000 on YouTube. This strategy has paid off: unique online sessions jumped from 818 lakh in FY23 to 2,988 lakh in FY25, while its active customer base nearly doubled from 390,959 to 771,845 over the same period. While physical stores contribute 93.3% of revenue, the online platform remains a powerful lead generator. Moreover, unlike legacy jewellers focused on bridal or high-value investment pieces, BlueStone targets lighter, design-led jewellery for daily wear and special occasions. This appeals to the 25-45 age group, younger, design-conscious buyers more influenced by digital engagement. This segment remains underpenetrated by large incumbents, offering room for growth. In-house manufacturing advantage Bluestone's vertically integrated model is another moat. It manufactures over 75% of its jewellery in-house, making it the largest retailer in India with such capacity. This vertical integration allows strict quality control, faster design-to-store timelines, and innovations such as same-day delivery and 'try-at-home" services. Repeat revenue rose from 34.67% in FY23 to 44.61% in FY25, among the highest in the industry. Despite its heavy marketing investments, BlueStone spent only 9% of revenue on advertising in FY25, down from 10.9% in FY23, placing it among the top four jewellers in India with the lowest marketing spends. This, however, is higher than Titan (5%) and Kalyan (1.9%). Store expansion and manufacturing footprint Between FY23 and FY25, BlueStone opened 120 new stores across India, averaging about 60 per year. The network is well-diversified, avoiding over-reliance on any single region. Of its 275 stores, 145 are in tier-I cities, 77 in tier-II, and 53 in tier-III. Same-store sales grew 32% in FY25, strong, but lower than the 72% growth in FY23, partly due to new store openings diluting the growth rate. Geographically, the North leads with 83 stores, followed by the South (77), West (65), and East (50). Store-level economics remain healthy, with nearly 75% breaking even within three months of launch. For outlets operational for more than three years, average monthly revenue has risen from ₹55.9 lakh in FY23 to ₹76.8 lakh in FY25. Of the total stores, 75 stores are owned by franchisees who provide the entire capital for these outlets, including investment and inventory costs. In return, Bluestone offers a high minimum guaranteed return on investment or store revenue. This model helps the company to grow rapidly with low upfront costs and low risk. However, BlueStone plans to expand its network of company-owned stores to reduce dependence on franchise capital. Bluestone intends to open over 290 new stores between FY25 and FY27, expanding across existing cities and new markets. As of March, BlueStone had three manufacturing facilities in Mumbai, Jaipur, and Surat. Capacity utilization at these plants has steadily improved over FY23-25, reflecting both strong demand and the efficiency of its vertically integrated model. Financial performance The company's revenue has doubled, from ₹771 crore in FY23 to ₹1,770 crore in FY25. This growth has been driven by growth in customer base, store count, and average order value. The company commands a gross margin of 37.9%, up from 31.9% in FY23, which is higher than Titan's (21.5%) and Kalyan's (13%). The margin is higher due to a greater contribution from higher-margin studded jewellery. The company has also turned profitable at the Ebitda level, with a margin of 4.1% in FY25 compared to a loss margin of 7.3% in FY23. Ebitda swung from a loss of ₹56 crore in FY23 to a profit of ₹73 crore in FY25. Despite operational improvement, BlueStone remains loss-making at the net level. Its losses widened from ₹167 crore to ₹222 crore over the same period. Rising finance costs, employee benefits and depreciation expenses have eroded the benefits of strong revenue growth and weighed on overall profitability. On the balance sheet, total borrowings have risen from ₹228 crore in FY23 to ₹729 crore in FY25. However, its net-debt-to-equity ratio remains comfortable at 0.67 times, supported by cash and other deposits exceeding ₹500 crore. Inventory levels have risen sharply, from ₹395 crore in FY23 to ₹1,652.5 crore in FY25. A demand slowdown could risk excess inventory or under-stocking, impacting business performance. Nonetheless, the company believes its store revenue productivity has significant room for growth. Same-store sales growth across existing and new outlets is expected to drive expansion in store-level margins and return metrics. Valuation and outlook From a valuation standpoint, BlueStone's asking price appears steep, at over 4x sales and about 115x Ebitda, significantly higher than peers. In comparison, Senco Gold is at 0.8x and 15.8x, PN Gadgil at 1x and 21.3x, and even the fastest-growing Kalyan Jewellers trades at about 2x and 32x. For more such analysis, read Profit Pulse. That said, the IPO pricing is below the ₹578 per share that the company allotted to its promoter in December 2024, offering some comfort to investors. Still, profitability challenges and the valuation premium remain concerns. Key risks include sustained losses, gold price volatility, and rising competition from lab-grown diamonds. Yet, with India's daily-wear jewellery segment projected to grow 15-18% annually to ₹5 trillion, and account for 40-45% of the total jewellery market, BlueStone is well-positioned to capture an expanding niche. Madhvendra has over seven years of experience in equity markets and writes detailed research articles on listed Indian companies, sectoral trends, and macroeconomic developments. The writer does not hold the stocks discussed in this article. The purpose of this article is only to share interesting charts, data points, and thought-provoking opinions. It is NOT a recommendation. If you wish to consider an investment, you are strongly advised to consult your advisor. This article is strictly for educational purposes only.
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Business Standard
6 days ago
- Business
- Business Standard
Bluestone Jewellery IPO opens on Aug 11: Check price band, GMP, key dates
Bluestone Jewellery IPO: Bluestone Jewellery and Lifestyle, a digital-first jewellery brand, is set to launch its initial public offering (IPO) on Monday, August 14, 2025. The ₹1,540.65 crore issue comprises a fresh issue of 15.9 million equity shares and an offer for sale (OFS) of 13.9 million equity shares. Accel India, Saama Capital, Kalaari Capital Partners, Iron Pillar, Sunil Kant Munjal and other partners of Hero Enterprise Partner Ventures are the selling shareholders. According to the red herring prospectus (RHP), up to 75 per cent of the issue will be reserved for qualified institutional buyers (QIBs), 15 per cent for non-institutional investors (NIIs), and the remaining 10 per cent for retail investors. Bluestone Jewellery IPO GMP The unlisted shares of Bluestone Jewellery were trading at ₹552, commanding a premium of ₹35 or 6.8 per cent compared to the upper end of the price band of ₹492 to ₹517 on Thursday, according to sources tracking unofficial market activities. Bluestone Jewellery IPO price band, lot size Bluestone Jewellery has set the price band for its IPO in the range of ₹492 to ₹517 per equity share. The minimum lot size for an application is 29 shares. A retail investor would require a minimum investment amount of ₹14,993 to bid for one lot, at the upper price band. Bluestone Jewellery IPO key dates According to the red herring prospectus (RHP), the three-day subscription window will tentatively close on Wednesday, August 13, 2025. The anchor investor bid period shall be one working day before the issue opening date. The basis of the allotment of shares is likely to be finalised on Thursday, August 14, 2025. Shares of Bluestone Jewellery will be listed on both the exchanges, National Stock Exchange and BSE, tentatively on Tuesday, August 19, 2025. Bluestone Jewellery IPO registrar, lead manager Kfin Technologies is the registrar of the issue. Axis Capital, IIFL Capital Services, and Kotak Mahindra Capital Company are the book-running lead managers. Bluestone Jewellery IPO objective According to the RHP, the company proposes to utilise the net fresh issue proceeds for working capital requirements and general corporate purposes. About Bluestone Jewellery and Lifestyle Bluestone Jewellery and Lifestyle offers contemporary lifestyle diamond, gold, platinum and studded jewellery under their flagship brand, BlueStone. It is an omnichannel jewellery brand and retails its products through its website, mobile application available on iOS and Google Play Store, and a pan-India network of stores. As of March 31, 2025, the company operated 275 stores in 117 cities, including franchise stores, across 26 states and Union Territories in India. The company focuses on designing jewellery for women, men and couples between the ages of 25 and 45 years who have a tendency to discover brands through social media or online channels.
Time of India
05-08-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Accel-backed Bluestone Jewellery cuts India IPO size
India's Bluestone Jewellery and Lifestyle has trimmed the size of its initial public offering, a prospectus showed on Tuesday. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads India's Bluestone Jewellery and Lifestyle has trimmed the size of its initial public offering, a prospectus showed on Accel India-backed company will now issue fresh shares worth 8.2 billion rupees (about $93 million), down from 10 billion rupees existing shareholders, including venture capital firms Accel India and Kalaari Capital , will now sell 13.9 million shares in the offering, lower than the 24 million shares proposed will launch the IPO on August 11 and close bids on August 13. Anchor investors will bid for the share sale on August jeweller was seeking a valuation of at least 120 billion rupees ($1.37 billion) in the IPO, Reuters reported in December, citing sources. The overall IPO size was slated to be around 30 billion rupees, the sources had company may consider issuing specified securities, in consolidation with bookrunning lead managers, aggregating up to 2 billion rupees in pre-IPO placement, its draft prospectus from December company, which sells diamond, gold, platinum and studded jewellery, competes with Titan, Kalyan Jewellers and Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri among listed firms in from the offering will be used to fund working capital requirements and general corporate purposes, the Bluestone prospectus showed. Axis Capital , IIFL Capital and Kotak Mahindra Capital are its bookrunning lead managers.($1 = 87.7790 Indian rupees)
Reuters
05-08-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Accel-backed Bluestone Jewellery cuts India IPO size
Aug 5 (Reuters) - India's Bluestone Jewellery and Lifestyle ( opens new tab reduced the size of its initial public offering (IPO), a prospectus showed on Tuesday. The Accel India-backed company will now issue fresh shares worth 8.2 billion rupees (about $93 million), down from 10 billion rupees earlier. Its existing shareholders, including venture capital firms Accel India and Kalaari Capital, will now sell 13.9 million shares in the offering, lower than the 24 million shares proposed earlier. The jeweller was seeking a valuation of at least 120 billion rupees ($1.37 billion) in the IPO, Reuters reported in December, citing sources. The overall IPO size was slated to be around 30 billion rupees, the sources had said. The company, which sells diamond, gold, platinum and studded jewellery, competes with Titan ( opens new tab, Kalyan Jewellers ( opens new tab and Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri ( opens new tab among listed firms in India. Proceeds from the offering will be used to fund working capital requirements and general corporate purposes, the Bluestone prospectus showed. Axis Capital, IIFL Capital and Kotak Mahindra Capital are its bookrunning lead managers. ($1 = 87.7790 Indian rupees)
Time of India
16-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Scoring with AI not enough to crack US enterprise code
Academy Empower your mind, elevate your skills Indian artificial intelligence startups, which are making a beeline to the US to be close to customers, are taking longer to conclude deals and run pilots with US enterprises, amid rising competition and changing business landscape, founders and investors startups are looking at strategic partners and investors who have deep enterprise networks and can help them connect with potential customers, they told SaaS, where the market had evolved and people were buying, founders were able to get a couple of customers through emails and messages, but in the AI world, confusion is high even for buyers, Accel India partner Shekhar Kirani said. 'So, they need assistance at least for the next 12-24 months, when it becomes obvious that the products work.' Enterprise sales have always been hard and required the founders to work on-site to gain the last couple of years, AI has changed the landscape by drastically bringing down the time taken to develop a product. This has resulted in proliferation of AI platforms and applications, cluttering the market, increasing competition and changing the enterprise sales Ayyagari, cofounder, SnowMountain AI , an agentic AI platform for banking and financial services, said with AI coming in, the time taken to close the deals have increased significantly, with some companies going as far as getting into code-level discussions to gain trust from customers.'Earlier it would take 6-9 months to get a signalling from a company, if they are interested in the product or not. Now that is taking 12-18 months. Even getting demos is hard now,' he said. He explained that more often than not enterprises are running multiple pilots and are beginning to put new pilots on pause till they have Krishnan, founder of NuWare, a US-based IT services company, said during his conversations with the chief information officers of large enterprises in the US, he has found that they are often seeing over 20 companies that are selling similar products and hardly have time to have a demo with each of these Vivek Khandelwal, cofounder of agentic AI solutions startup CogniSwitch , was in the market for a security compliance product and said he was confused.'This market is equally miserable for buyers. We are at a point where we have to flip a coin and go with whoever it is, because there are so many products and everyone's messaging is exactly the same,' he went ahead with a company that was known to him. But he agrees that the market is Agarwal, cofounder of Raga AI, which offers an agentic workflow testing platform, said though building enterprise-quality products is tough, the field has become noisy, confusing the buyers as navigate this challenge, founders are looking to partner with investors and domain experts that can help with of SnowMountain AI said his company has partnered with domain experts such as former banking executives to get customers Abbey, founder of an AI startup catering to the banking and financial services companies, said she partners with strategic investors in the US that can make warm Krishnan, who also runs investment firm NuVentures, said they are helping their portfolio companies with customer introductions, which are now becoming critical and a key differentiator as companies look to break into enterprises in the Goyal, partner, Stellaris Venture Partners, said customer introduction is one of the most critical help portfolio companies need as they search for a product-market fit and early traction in an increasing competition for enterprise founders and investors are navigating a dynamic business landscape, there are other challenges as previous tech cycles, speed is the moat in AI, as the technology evolves at a rapid pace. This means startups need to iterate fast and that is one of the reasons founders are moving to the who was cited earlier, said she flies in and out of the US to be closer to customers and iterate Goyal said many enterprises are in a wait-and-watch mode as continued competitiveness of existing solutions is questionable with underlying technology evolving so rapidly. In addition, amid the uncertain macroeconomic environment, investments are being postponed; this presents a challenge as well.
