Khaadi announces $25mn investment from IFC

In a news filing today, Khaadi officially announced that IFC is to invest up to $25 million in the organization against a minority stake. In an email sent from Khaadi’s top management to its employees, it claimed “This strategic investment will enable us to accelerate our growth plans, support future sustainability and empower us to achieve our vision of becoming a global brand.”

This would be the first investment by IFC in Pakistan’s fashion retail sector, where IFC has not only promised financial investment, but also its strategic expertise and global presence to bring Khaadi closer to its vision of becoming a global brand.

In September 2021, IFC had announced this proposal as a quasi-equity investment via convertible preference shares for up to $25 million.

This takes Khaadi’s initial expansion plan to: grow its operations as it recovers from disruptions related to Covid-19 through expansion of footprint/retail space; accelerate global online sales; and expand the international store network, a step further towards its implementation phase.

The International Finance Corporation is an international financial institution that offers investment, advisory, and asset-management services to encourage private-sector development in less developed countries. The IFC is a member of the World Bank Group and is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets, with a presence in more than 100 countries.  

Khaadi Corporation Limited is one of the companies in Pakistan in fashion retail with the largest market share in the formal apparel retail market. Having started operations in 1998 with one store, Khaadi has expanded its retail network to 62 stores over 25 cities in Pakistan and 14 international stores in Qatar, UAE, Bahrain and the United Kingdom. Currently, Khaadi is a single member private limited company with Shamoon Sultan as its founder, Chief Executive and sponsor owning 100% of its capital. Shamoon, who started his career by working for a prominent couture designer for a couple of years set up his own clothing line in 1998 under the brand name “Khaadi” defined as  “handlooms” in local language. Since its inception, Khaadi and Shamoon have won numerous local industry awards, and now Khaadi seeks to expand to a global scale.