NOVEMBER 20258LENSKART SET FOR 7,024 CRORE IPO AT $8 BILLION VALUATIONTHERMO FISHER INVESTS 160 CR TO BOOST ANTIBODY RESEARCHEyewear retailer Lenskart is set for its highly-anticipated public listing with subscriptions open to the public between October 31 and November 4, with a valuation of around $8 billion (70,000 crore). The date for trading to begin on the stock market is November 10 and this will be one of India's biggest public offerings of 2025.With backup from SoftBank, Lenskart has decided on a price band of 382­402 per share. The offering consists of Thermo Fisher Scientific marked a significant milestone with the inauguration of its enhanced Research and Development (R&D) Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru. India is set to lead antibody design, development, and manufacturing in the global market, with the facility expansion as the key driver.Digital Economy Mission (KDEM) CEO Sanjeev Kumar Gupta inaugurated the new centre in the presence of senior executives from KDEM, KEONICS, and the Karnataka Innovation & Technology Society (KITS).a fresh share sale of 2,150 crore and an offer-for-sale (OFS) of 127.56 million shares by existing investors for a total of 7,024 crore ($830 million).The company has several notable selling shareholders including Peyush Bansal, Neha Bansal, Amit Chaudhary, Sumeet Kapahi and global investors such as SoftBank's SVF II Lightbulb, Schroders Capital, Kedaara Capital and Alpha Wave Ventures.The Lenskart IPO will be launched via the book-building route, per SEBI requirements, with an offer to be listed on BSE and NSE exchanges. The lead managers are Kotak Mahindra Capital, Morgan Stanley India and Avendus Capital.The company plans to use the IPO proceeds to grow its CoCo stores, develop its technology infrastructure and support brand marketing. Lenskart is looking to open 450 new stores this year, which would take its total number of stores to more than 3,150 in 14 countries, its fastest expansion by number of stores to date.In FY25, Lenskart grew revenue to 6,652.5 crore, or 22.5 percent year-on-year, and reported net profit of 297.34 crore. As demand for vision correction in India is forecast to reach more than one billion people by 2030, Lenskart is gearing up to compete as a significant player in the eyewear retail space, to their competitors Titan Eyeplus, Specsmakers and Luxottica Group. The refurbishing, which constitutes a cumulative local investment of more than Rs 160 crore, is a testament to the life sciences company's optimism about and commitment to the sector in India. The 37,000-sq-ft space is a high-tech laboratory that incorporates cutting-edge automation and analytical platforms to perform immunoassays, protein analysis, and cell-based studies. Besides, more than 100 new jobs have been created to develop local talent in the area.Priyank Kharge, the Minister for Electronics, IT & BT, and Rural Development & Panchayat Raj, Government of Karnataka, while addressing the gathering, said that the expansion is a clear indication of the state's ambition to establish Karnataka as a biotechnology hub on the global stage.Gianluca Pettiti, Executive Vice President, Life Sciences, Diagnostics and Applied Sector, Thermo Fisher Scientific, said that, as a result, Bengaluru continues to be the company's innovation ecosystem's strategic hub.Thermo Fisher's Bengaluru facility has been instrumental in global infectious disease research, antiviral studies, and cancer biology for 18 years. The company has developed more than 2,000 recombinant antibodies and validated over 25,000 antibodies.With the expansion, the company is going to be even more influential in the Indian biotechnology sector that is rapidly growing. TOP STORIESTOP STORIESTOP STORIES
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