Sai Silks to expand footprint in south India

Sai Silks (Kalamandir), a Hyderabad-based

retailer of women’s, kids and men’s wear, intends to expand its retail network by opening four new showrooms – one each at Hyderabad, Nizamabad, Vijayawada and Chennai – with a total investment of around Rs 13 crores. The eight-year-old company currently operates 16 outlets across Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka covering a retail space of 129,000 sq. ft.

Prasad Chalavadi, Chairman and MS of Sai Silks (Kalamandir) says they propose to take on leased properties to set up the new outlets, which should be operational during the third quarter of the next financial year. The company also intends to enter the capital market through an initial public offering (IPO) to raise around Rs 89 crores. Besides funding its expansion, the proceeds of the issue will be utilised for brand-building exercise (Rs 8.5 crore), re-payment (Rs 91 lakh) of term loan to SBI, and close to Rs 60 crores for meting long-term working capital requirements.

Following a book-building process, Chalavadi said, the company has fixed the price band in the range of Rs 70 to Rs 75 per share. Adding that the company would continue to focus on the high-margin sari retailing business, he said that the women's ethnic wear market, including saris and attires, was growing at 8.3 percent year-on-year, and was expected to touch Rs 1,20,385 crores by 2021, as against the current level of Rs 54,000 crores.