Power packed

Calcutta, March 13: Bengal Waterproof wants to cash in on its 85-year-old Duckback brand for a proposed initial public offering. The issue will fund the company?s expansion programme.

Ernst and Young will value the Duckback brand, which is used for raincoats, school bags and soft luggage. The Duckback range also includes inflated boats, including assault boats used by the defence, and life jackets used by the army and the navy.

Officials are in talks with merchant bankers for the public issue to be floated this year. The main leveraging factor for the maiden offer will be the eight-decade old Duckback brand, which is sold through 800 dealers across the country, said executive director Amit Mukherjee.

?The plan is to expand the visibility of the brand and increase the dealer network to 5000 by the year-end,?? said Mukherjee.

The offer size has been put at Rs 40 crore. ?We would prefer the book-building route,?? Mukherjee said. The first round of discussions with SBI Caps and I-Sec is on. The company will also speak to other fund managers before finalising the issue size and date, he said. The decision to change into a public limited company from a closely-held outfit comes when Duckback is readying itself for a quantum leap in production and introduction of new products to position itself as a market leader in the mid-market segment.

Bengal Waterproof was set up by late S. M. Bose in 1920 and is now headed by his septuagenarian son Debabrata Bose. Three other members of the Bose family are on the seven-member board, while the rest are professionals.

Best known for its traditional Duckback products like hot bags, ice bags, rain wear and gum boots, Bengal Waterproof expanded its range in the mid-eighties to soft luggage and floated products such as boats, assault boats and life jackets.

The Duckback brand of inflatable goods and boats obtained ?type approval? from various defence wings.

Bengal Waterproof has a capacity to produce 2.6 million metres of coated fabrics at its plant at Panihati in North 24 Parganas. Work is on to select the machinery makers in Germany and the US for the expansion project, Mukherjee said.

The main focus for expansion, however, will be on the soft luggage segment. The company plans to increase the annual sale of soft luggage to Rs 30 crore against around Rs 12 crore now.

He said the new Duckback range of lightweight rainsuits within 800 grams and sweat-less rainwear of 450 grams will be introduced during the monsoon season.