GradingJul 08, 2024
IGI Names Tiffany Stevens to Lead North American BusinessGradingAug 27, 2024
IGI Files for IPO in India
The gemological lab is looking to raise up to $477 million.
The International Gemological Institute has filed for an initial public offering in India.
New York—The International Gemological Institute is looking to go public a little over a year after it was acquired by a private equity firm.
The company filed for an initial public offering in India on Aug. 22, looking to raise up to 40 billion rupees ($477 million).
The stock would be listed on the National Stock Exchange of India and the Bombay Stock Exchange.
The proposed IPO values IGI at around $3.5 billion.
Around 75 percent of the IPO will go to qualified institutional buyers while 15 percent will go to non-institutional investors. The remaining 10 percent will be available to retail investors.
The company said it plans to use the net proceeds for general corporate purposes and to acquire the remaining outstanding shares of IGI Belgium Group and IGI Netherlands Group.
“The proposed acquisition is intended to consolidate our global business under our company while continuing to leverage on our centralized management and simplify our group structure,” said the prospectus.
IGI highlighted its position as the second-largest independent grading and accreditation services provider in the world, after the Gemological Institute of America, for loose stones and jewelry.
IGI’s share of the overall grading report market is around 33 percent, according to a report IGI commissioned from consultancy firm Redseer.
In India, however, IGI is the largest provider of these services, holding 50 percent market share, said the report.
IGI also noted in its prospectus the lab’s early entry into providing grading services for the “fast-growing” lab-grown diamond industry.
The report found IGI to be the global leader in lab-grown diamond reports, holding 65 percent market share.
Related stories will be right here …
The company filed for an initial public offering in India on Aug. 22, looking to raise up to 40 billion rupees ($477 million).
The stock would be listed on the National Stock Exchange of India and the Bombay Stock Exchange.
The proposed IPO values IGI at around $3.5 billion.
Around 75 percent of the IPO will go to qualified institutional buyers while 15 percent will go to non-institutional investors. The remaining 10 percent will be available to retail investors.
The company said it plans to use the net proceeds for general corporate purposes and to acquire the remaining outstanding shares of IGI Belgium Group and IGI Netherlands Group.
“The proposed acquisition is intended to consolidate our global business under our company while continuing to leverage on our centralized management and simplify our group structure,” said the prospectus.
IGI highlighted its position as the second-largest independent grading and accreditation services provider in the world, after the Gemological Institute of America, for loose stones and jewelry.
IGI’s share of the overall grading report market is around 33 percent, according to a report IGI commissioned from consultancy firm Redseer.
In India, however, IGI is the largest provider of these services, holding 50 percent market share, said the report.
IGI also noted in its prospectus the lab’s early entry into providing grading services for the “fast-growing” lab-grown diamond industry.
The report found IGI to be the global leader in lab-grown diamond reports, holding 65 percent market share.
IGI also shared details about its revenue for the first three months of the year, totaling 2.15 billion rupees ($25.7 million), with nearly all revenue coming from its grading reports.
Of those reports, 60 percent were for lab-grown diamonds, followed by jewelry and colored stones at 20 percent, and natural diamonds at 19 percent.
Less than 1 percent of its revenue stems from its education services.
Private equity giant Blackstone acquired IGI in May 2023 from a subsidiary of Chinese conglomerate Fosun and former CEO Roland Lorie, paying nearly $570 million for the lab.
Founded by the Lorie family in Antwerp in 1975, IGI now operates 31 laboratories and 18 education facilities in diamond and jewelry centers around the world.
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