IGI Could Raise $477m with IPO
August 27, 24
(IDEX Online) - The IGI grading lab is seeking to capitalize on the lab grown boom with an IPO (initial public offering) that could raise $477m.
Revenues have increased since the network of 31 labs and 18 schools was bought by a subsidiary of the asset manager Blackstone Group last May for $570m. Total earnings for 2023 were $75.1m, up from $57.8m the previous year.
In documents filed with the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) last Thursday (22 August) the company said it now had a 33 per cent share of the global grading market for all diamonds (second only to GIA) and a 65 per cent share of the lab grown sector.
IGI (International Gemological Institute), founded in Antwerp in 1975 by Marcel Lorie, now does most of its business in India. In 2018, China-based Fosun International Ltd bought an 80 per cent stake in the company (the Lorie family retained 20 per cent).
Reports of a possible IPO first surfaced in April of this year. The offering values IGI at around $3.5bn, at a time when IPOs are generating huge investor interest and demand.
Pic courtesy IGI.