Windlas Biotech IPO - Should you apply?

Ever thought, where do the drugs you consume come from? Do companies like Cadila Healthcare, Pfizer, or Eris manufacture all their drugs, or do they give manufacturing orders to some companies? Well, not all drugs are produced by these companies; some of the drugs are manufactured and brought from the drug manufacturing units.

One such unit is Windlas Biotech. Just so you know, it is coming up with its IPO on Aug 4, 2021. But before we order this IPO, let's evaluate its health quotient. So, stick with us to check if booking this IPO is as safe as the drugs it produces, or should we pass over this opportunity.

Without any further ado, let's begin.

Windlas Biotech Ltd - Company Info

A Uttarakhand-based company incorporated in 2001, Windlas Biotech develops and manufactures domestic pharma formulations and is among the top 5 companies in the domestic pharmaceutical formulations contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) industry in terms of revenue in the country. CDMO is basically a company that serves other pharma companies on a contract basis to provide a host of services from drug development to drug manufacturing. There are many companies that tie up with these types of CDMO companies to outsource their drugs.

Windlas has a wide range of CDMO services such as product development, licensing, and commercial manufacture of generic products.

They operate their business in 3 verticals:

1. CDMO Products and services

2. Domestic trade generics and Over-the-counter (OTC) market

3. Exports

Windlas Biotech has some very famous customers in the pharma industry, such as Pfizer, Sanofi Ltd, Intas Pharmaceuticals Ltd, and many more.

Promoters of the Company: Ashok Kumar Windlas, Hitesh Windlas, Manoj Kumar Windlas, and AKW WBL Family Pvt Trust

Financials of Windlas Biotech Ltd.

The revenue is generated from the three verticals. The revenue generated for 2020 can be broken down as 87.36% from CDMO products and services, 9.2% from the domestic trade generics and OTC markets, and 3.25 % from exports.

Let’s now have a look at the company’s revenues & earnings growth:

So, now that we have a basic idea about the company’s financials, let us look at the key details of the IPO. 

Details of the IPO

The IPO will remain for subscription from 4th August 2021 to 6th August 2021. It will be listed on the stock exchanges, probably on 17th August 2021.

Application range details

For additional details, you can visit the IPO section in Ticker:

Objects of the Issue

This IPO of Rs. 401.54 Crores is a mix of Fresh Issue and Offer For Sale (OFS). The bifurcation is as follows -

1. Fresh Issue: Fresh Issue means issuing new equity shares of the company and selling those newly issued shares to the investors to raise funds. The IPO will have a fresh issue of Rs 165 Crores. This would be required to complete the following objectives:

• For purchasing equipment for the capacity expansion of the existing facility at the Dehradun Plant and the addition of injectable dosage capacity at the existing facility.

• For financing working capital requirements of the company.

• For repayment of the company's certain borrowings.

• For general corporate purposes.

2. Offer For Sale (OFS): Offer for sale is a mechanism through which promoters in public companies can sell their shares and reduce their holdings. The IPO will have an offer for sale of Rs 236.54 crores by the investors, including the company’s promoters.

The promoters’ holding before the issue was 78%, and after the listing, it would be 65.16%. 

Factors that support the IPO

In times like this, the need for medicines and injections has increased rapidly. According to the IQVIA’s 2019 Global Use of Medicine 2019 report, the amount of money spent on buying medicines worldwide will exceed $1.4 trillion by the end of 2021. 

You would think that this is the case for all the pharma companies. So what are the factors which separate Windlas Biotech from others? Let's have a look at them:

• It is one of the leaders in manufacturing and developing CDMO products with a focused approach in India and globally.

• As the demand for generic medicines is increasing day-by-day, the companies are approaching CDMO companies to manufacture drugs. Also, the major revenue of Windlas Biotech comes from the CDMO section.

• The company is very efficient and does not compromise with quality and the reason for this is the company’s strong Research & Development. The company focuses a lot on its cost sufficiency and productivity.

• Most of the company’s production is done through automation equipment, increasing the working speed and reducing wastage.

• They have a very long and strong relationship with many leading pharmaceutical companies in the country.

You would think that everything is so good about the company, so you should definitely go for it. But it's not always as simple as it looks. So before pronouncing any judgment, let's look at some risks associated with this IPO as well.

Risk factors in the IPO

The pandemic might have acted as a catalyst for the company’s growth, but it’s not entirely devoid of risks. Let’s understand -

• It supplies its products to pharmaceutical companies. There are a lot of quality checks, audits, and inspections to check whether the formulation of the product is suitable. It may lose its customers if it fails to supply them with proper quality standards. The license can also be canceled.

• This company is planning to enter into the injectable manufacturing business, and entering into such a new business vertical can be risky as making injections is a very critical job that needs many trained manufacturers.

• The business model of this company requires huge working capital. If the trade receivables cycle and the payable cycles don't work timely, this could be the biggest threat for them in the near future.

Final Words

We can say that the company has progressed in the recent past and has had some good gains. The company has been really consistent with the quality of its products and is doing very well in the industry. But we have also seen that the lack of funds could become a big problem for them.

Entering into the injectable business can be fruitful for the company in the long term, but it has several risks associated with it. If the Injectable business fails, the huge amount of money that has been invested from the proceeds of the IPO (about Rs 50 Cr.) will simply get squandered.

Having known the nuances, now it’s entirely your call. However, do adequate research before jumping into the IPO.

So, what’s it? A hit or a miss? Tell us in the comments below.