The initial public offering (IPO) of Creative Graphics Solutions, one of India’s leading organized flexography ecosystem players, has received positive feedback from both foreign as well as reputed Indian investors. It has also helped the company increase its brand visibility and much-needed funds to upgrade its operations.
The retail portion of the Creative Graphics Solutions IPO opened for subscription from 28 March to 4 April 2024. The price band for the issue was fixed at Rs 80 to Rs 85 per share, and the lot size was 1,600 equity shares. Corporate Capital Ventures was the book-running lead manager, and Bigshare Services Private Limited was the registrar for the issue. Opening at the higher end of the price band at Rs 85, the share price was quoted above Rs 200 when last seen on 27 May 2024.
Talking to Packaging South Asia, Pulkit Agrawal, chief financial officer, Creative Graphics, said, “The IPO was basically for two reasons – firstly, to get more visibility and secondly, to give us capital infusion to continue to invest in new technology and upgrade our operations.”
The IPO gave the company greater visibility and credibility in the market. “We were already a known player in the printing and packaging segments but now many more know about us. A lot of businesses want to work with us as they think of us as a credible player,” he said, adding the IPO has brought the printing and packaging industry into the public eye.
A lot of people not directly associated with the industry now know about the value addition that the industry brings, he said, adding Creative Graphics has been in the flexography business for the past two decades and wants to continue participating in the growth path.
Before the IPO, Creative Graphics was a family-owned business when the promoters had almost all its shares, he said, adding the company listed the shares in the Rs 80-85 price band. The issue opened at the higher end at Rs 85 and right now (27 May 2024), the share price is above Rs 200.
The list of investors includes foreign as well as reputed Indian players, he said. “We have received a lot of positive feedback from investors. They have been very kind to us and have shown a lot of faith in the business, partly because of the industry that we are in and partly because of our vintage in the industry and the growth we have shown,” he said.
The funding will be used to fuel future growth. It is a technology-oriented industry and new technology keeps coming in now and then, he said. It is, thus, very important to continue investing in and exploring new technologies to stay ahead. “We also want to expand our operations and our customer base,” he added.
“The IPO is a wonderful route as it gives us a lot of power. However, it also brings a lot of responsibility because you are participating in a market where a lot of players are looking at you constantly. An ethical player who wants to run the business in the right way, who is transparent, and who has the right corporate governance, will always be appreciated by the market. For these players, I think, it will make a lot of sense to go for this route,” Agrawal said.
“A lot of SMEs in India are now growing thanks to government initiatives and the growing Indian economy. It is attracting a lot of talent, capital, and interest from global players. I think there is a bright future for India as a country.”
Agrawal said the printing and packaging segment will continue to grow as Indians rise in economic stature and their purchasing power increases. “We are confident and bullish about the Indian growth story. We expect that a lot more brands will be launched. For foreign players, the Indian market is becoming much more attractive compared to how it was 20 years ago or even a decade ago,” he added.
Creative Graphics specializes in manufacturing flexographic printing plates, including digital flexo plates, conventional flexo printing plates, letterpress plates, metal back plates, and coating plates. The company’s customer base is spread out across India, Thailand, Qatar, Kuwait, Nepal, and Africa. It operates seven manufacturing facilities – Noida (Uttar Pradesh), Vasai, Pune (Maharashtra), Chennai (Tamil Nadu), Baddi (Himachal Pradesh), Hyderabad (Telangana), and Ahmedabad (Gujarat).
Founded by Deepanshu Goel, a first-generation entrepreneur and incorporated in 2014, Creative Graphics has expanded its business through its wholly owned subsidiaries – Creative Graphics Premedia Private Limited (CG Premedia) and Wahren India Private Limited.
While CG Premedia offers end-to-end premedia services, from design adaptation to print production, Wahren India supplies high-quality packaging solutions for the pharmaceutical industry. It produces alu-alu foil, blister foil, tropical alu-alu foil, CR foil, and pharmaceutical sachets.
The company clocked a revenue of Rs 131.5 crore and earned a profit (PAT) of Rs 10.8 crore in FY 2023-24. It registered revenue of Rs 90.14 crore and a profit (PAT) of Rs 8.64 crore in FY2022-23.
