Bombay Coated and Special Steels: the DRHP, the promoters and the numbers

Section 1Snapshot

Issue size

₹183.06 cr

Type

100% fresh

Price

₹82

Shares offered

2.23 cr

Value at price

₹515 cr

P/E (FY26)

~16.9x

• Sole lead manager: Smart Horizon Capital Advisors (formerly Shreni Capital). Registrar: KFin Technologies. Auditor: Shah Shah & Shah. Issue counsel: Desai & Diwanji (DRHP p.82).
• The DRHP offered up to 1.5 crore shares. The final issue is 2,23,24,024 shares, about 49% more. Lot size 182 shares, minimum ₹14,924 (Chittorgarh).
• Reservation: QIB 50% (anchor 65.97 lakh shares), non-institutional 15%, retail 35%.
• Anchor book on 28 October: ₹54.10 crore, split AIF 73.97% and NBFC 26.03%. Names were not verified in this review. Anchor lock-in ends 3 December 2026 for half and 1 February 2027 for the rest.
• Bids at close (Chittorgarh, 2 November, 5:54 pm): 63.89x overall, retail 35.46x, QIB (ex-anchor) 37.32x, non-institutional 166.44x, from 13.58 lakh applications. Another source shows about 61x at a different time stamp.
• Grey-market premium reported at ₹9 on 29 October. This is unofficial and unregulated and is not used in this analysis.

Sources 2 to 6. Share counts before and after the issue: 4,05,00,091 and 6,28,24,115.

Section 2Business in plain words

Bombay Coated and Special Steels buys steel coils, mostly from JSW Steel Coated Products, and cuts them to customer specifications: slitting, cut-to-length, shearing and embossing. Customers are makers of home and commercial appliances, auto parts, electrical equipment and cleanroom panels. It runs four plants: Wada and Bhiwandi (Maharashtra), Ghiloth (Rajasthan) and Sri City (Andhra Pradesh). It had 164 personnel at 30 June 2026 (Chittorgarh). The business began in 1983 as Bombay Steels, a trading proprietorship of promoter Vijaykumar Gupta, and the company acquired it under a business transfer agreement dated 29 January 2021 (DRHP p.3 cover pages, p.243). Business description: Chittorgarh summary of the RHP.

FY24 and FY25 from DRHP p.29. FY26 top-10 share from the abridged prospectus risk factors (73.54% in Q1 FY27). * JSW share for FY26 per InvestorZone and InCred Money (about 87%); not checked against the RHP. Largest customers in FY26 per InvestorZone: Amber 20.40%, Western Refrigeration 15.98%, Haier 8.70%.

Section 3Industry and competition

The DRHP names three listed peers using a CARE Analytics (CareEdge) report: BMW Industries, Manaksia Coated Metals and Shiv Aum Steels. In FY25 the company's revenue grew 39.8% while peers grew 0.1% to 5.7% (DRHP p.50). The CareEdge report was commissioned and paid for by the company (DRHP p.60).

The company has no long-term contracts with customers (DRHP risk 8). InCred Money reads the JSW agreement as barring purchase of certain coated coils elsewhere, setting minimum quantities, allowing JSW to end it on three months' notice, and letting JSW appoint other service partners in the same regions. That reading is from a secondary source and was not checked against the agreement.

Section 4Objects of the issue

• ₹125 crore is about 68% of the ₹183.06 crore issue (calculated here: 125 ÷ 183.06). Total borrowings were ₹338.45 crore at 31 March 2026 (Chittorgarh).
• General corporate purposes cannot be used to repay loans from promoters or directors (DRHP p.100).
• The use of funds has not been appraised by any bank or agency (DRHP p.100).

Section 5Financials

FY24 and FY25 match the DRHP restated statements (₹ million ÷ 10). FY26 and Q1 FY27 from the SEBI abridged prospectus (₹ million) and Chittorgarh. EBITDA is "adjusted" as defined by the company.

• Growth FY24 to FY26 (CAGR, calculated here): revenue about 29.5%, EBITDA about 32.3%, profit about 20.2%. FY26 profit grew 6.5% on revenue growth of 20%.
• Margins FY26: EBITDA about 6.8%, profit about 2.4% (Chittorgarh KPI table). ROE 29.9% and debt to equity 2.78x.
• FY25 finance costs were ₹31.24 crore against pre-tax profit of ₹37.17 crore, a ratio of about 84%. EBIT ÷ finance cost was about 2.2x (both calculated here from DRHP p.78).
• Cash flow FY25 (DRHP p.79): operations ₹32.09 crore against EBITDA-level operating profit of ₹75.69 crore before working-capital changes; capex ₹34.61 crore; short-term borrowings raised ₹2,366 crore and repaid ₹2,322 crore during the year.
• Receivables were ₹136.7 crore at March 2025, about 47 days of revenue (calculated here). Inventory ₹115.7 crore.
• Auditor's examination report: no qualifications requiring adjustment (DRHP p.268). It draws attention to note 41(h) on events after the balance-sheet date, without modifying the report.

Section 6Balance-sheet quality

• Debt to equity 2.78x at March 2026 and 2.00x at June 2026, the highest among the listed peers in InCred Money's comparison (Substack, source 10).
• DRHP p.47 gives total outstanding borrowings of ₹253.97 crore at 31 July 2025; DRHP p.101 gives ₹151.22 crore for the same date. InvestorZone and InCred Money give about ₹302 crore at 31 August 2026. Both secondary sources say promoters have personally guaranteed the borrowings, ₹302.43 crore per InvestorZone (not verified in the RHP). The DRHP (p.47) says no personal guarantee has been invoked and there has been no default or rescheduling in three fiscals.
• Contingent liabilities: none unprovided at 31 March 2025 (DRHP p.30).
• Late statutory payments reported by InvestorZone: 98 delayed TDS deposits in FY24 and ₹0.64 crore of GST paid late in FY26; 26 company-law forms filed late. Not verified against the RHP.
• The DRHP says the JSW agreement bars selling, mortgaging or disposing of manufacturing premises without JSW's prior consent (p.47).

Section 7Promoter and management

Three promoters, all on the board and all from one family: Vijaykumar Himatrai Gupta (father), Nitin Vijaykumar Gupta (son) and Bhawna Nitin Gupta (daughter-in-law). Board of six: the three promoters plus three independent directors (Neelam Tater, Mihen Halani, Hemant Ostwal), so half the board is independent. Independent directors joined in March 2025, before the DRHP. CEO: Shashi Mohan Singh Rawat. CFO: Ashish Sonthalia (from 3 September 2025; the earlier CFO left 31 August 2025). Company Secretary: Sonam Gupta (DRHP p.80 to 81, 243 to 244).

Method. For each promoter I searched the name with the company and with "Bombay Steels", and checked MCA-based profile sites, SEBI and exchange filings, company pages and press. The names "Nitin Gupta" and "Vijay Kumar Gupta" are very common, so I used only results tied to this company. The DRHP states that none of the promoters, directors or promoter group is debarred by SEBI, a wilful defaulter or a fugitive economic offender (DRHP p.412). Items marked Business relate to how the company does business, funds itself or complies with company law. The Kind label describes the type of item, not a judgment of conduct: For = a favourable disclosed fact; Watch = a disclosed non-compliance, related-party dealing or dependency; Neutral = another disclosed fact. No news article, court order or regulatory action against any of the three was found.

Vijaykumar Himatrai Gupta, Chairman and Whole-time Director (age 76)

Nitin Vijaykumar Gupta, Managing Director (age 46)

Bhawna Nitin Gupta, Whole-time Director (wife of Nitin)

Promoter group members Sunita Vijaykumar Gupta and Ruchi Vijaykumar Gupta hold 40 shares each. In FY25 the DRHP shows interest paid to the promoter family and their HUFs of about ₹2.5 crore in total (calculated here from DRHP p.30 to 31: ₹25.18 million).

Section 8Ownership and pre-IPO investors

* Calculated here from share counts, assuming full allotment. Abridged prospectus and Chittorgarh show promoters at 97.78% before and 63.03% after.

• The abridged prospectus's top-ten non-promoter holders are individuals, Moneyplant SME Fund and Rural Engineering Co. Private Limited. InvestorZone reports a 3-for-1 bonus issue in July 2025 and a ₹7.92 crore placement at ₹88 per share in October 2025 (not verified in the RHP). Share count: 3,95,99,920 in the DRHP (p.92) and 4,05,00,091 at the RHP stage (Chittorgarh).
• Fresh issue only, so no existing holder sells. The promoters keep about 63% after listing.
• Lock-in (DRHP p.92 to 93): promoters' 20% minimum contribution for 18 months; other promoter shares for 6 months; other pre-IPO holders for 6 months; anchors 30 and 90 days.
• Chittorgarh's anchor category split lists AIF (73.97%) and NBFC (26.03%) only.

Section 9Litigation and regulatory matters

• DRHP p.28 and p.402 to 405, and the abridged prospectus summary table. The one tax matter is against an independent director, not a promoter. The DRHP called its amount "not ascertainable".
• Materiality threshold used: ₹10.91 million (5% of average profit over three years) (DRHP p.402).
• One of the top ten risk factors in the abridged prospectus says the company, promoters, directors and some promoter-group members are involved in legal and regulatory proceedings. The summary table in the same document shows nil for promoters.
• The company has no group company by the SEBI definition (DRHP p.411).
• Statutory and RoC compliance matters are in Section 7 and Section 6.

Section 10Promoter family matters

• Structure. A father, son and daughter-in-law control the company. Roles are executive: Chairman, Managing Director and Whole-time Director. Relatives (Sunita Gupta, Ruchi Gupta, two HUFs) also lend to the company and rent premises to it (DRHP p.30 to 31).
• Share gift. The founder gifted 1,58,40,000 shares to his son on 29 August 2025 (DRHP p.92); the DRHP is dated 26 September 2025. Terms of office for all three run to 23 February 2030 (DRHP p.244).
• Disputes. No family dispute, insolvency or default involving promoters or group entities was found in the DRHP pages reviewed or in news searches. The DRHP states no promoter loan default and no invoked guarantee in three fiscals (p.47).
• Family lending and guarantees. Promoters, their HUFs and relatives lend to the company (DRHP p.30 to 31). InvestorZone and InCred Money report personal guarantees by promoters on the company's borrowings (not verified in the RHP).

Section 11Valuation

Peers' margins differ: InCred Money shows EBITDA margins of 25% (BMW), 9% (Manaksia) and 3% (Shiv Aum) against 7% for this company, and the highest debt to equity of the group at 2.78x. The pre-IPO placement price of ₹88 reported for October 2025 is above the ₹82 issue price.

Section 12Risk factors

• DRHP risk 1: substantial dependence on JSW; 83.98% of coils in FY25 (DRHP p.29). InCred Money reports the agreement can be ended on three months' notice (not verified).
• DRHP risks 3 and 4: top ten customers gave 67.44% of FY25 revenue (71.33% in FY26 per the abridged prospectus) and home and commercial appliances 81.80% of FY25 revenue, with seasonal variation.
• Abridged prospectus risk 8: the high debt-to-equity ratio could adversely affect financial condition and results.
• Abridged prospectus risk 5: raw materials were 90.51% of total expenses in FY26.
• Abridged prospectus risk 3: negative cash flows from investing and financing activities in the past.
• DRHP risk 9: RoC filing discrepancies and a pending adjudication application (p.40).
• Abridged prospectus risk 7: on average more than 50% of revenue came from Maharashtra, Gujarat and Haryana.
• DRHP risk 7: under-utilisation of operational capacities.
• Sole lead manager's listed record in the DRHP is SME issues only; no mainboard IPO (DRHP p.419).

Section 13News timeline

Horizon note: the company is under seven years old and its promoters' business dates to 1983. Searches on the promoters and Bombay Steels found no coverage before the IPO filings that reports allegations, court orders or regulatory actions. Local, regional-language and offline records were not searched.

Section 14Descriptive scorecard

One word per factor with evidence. No total, no verdict.

Questions left open

• How and when will the ₹6.31 crore promoter loan from the 2021 business transfer be repaid?
• Has the RoC decided the pending adjudication, and what penalty applied?
• What are the terms of the JSW agreement in full, including notice and territory?
• Is the "Bombay Steels" listing under the founder's name still active?
• Who were the anchor investors, and did any hold the shares before the IPO?

Sources

1. Draft Red Herring Prospectus dated 26 September 2025 (539 pages); NSE copy. Printed page numbers cited.
2. SEBI: Abridged Prospectus, October 2026
3. Chittorgarh: issue details, subscription, anchors, KPIs
4. Economic Times: issue opens, Anand Rathi valuation
5. Moneycontrol: anchor round
6. Trendlyne: IPO details
7. InvestorZone: governance, promoter loans and guarantees, peers (secondary source)
8. InCred Money (Substack): risks and peer comparison (secondary source)
9. Company website: management; Our journey
10. Multibagg: promoter loan in the business transfer (reading of the RHP)
11. The Broadview, LinkedIn: interview with Nitin Gupta
12. Zauba Corp: director profile; The Company Check
13. IndiaMART: Bombay Steels listing

Calculated figures are labelled "calculated here". Secondary sources (InvestorZone, InCred Money, Multibagg) read the RHP and were not checked against it. Social media posts were not used as evidence. Review limits: the full RHP and the JSW agreement were not read; DRHP sections not read include the industry chapter, most of MD&A and restated-statement notes.