The unglamorous bet behind Knack Packaging's IPO

A maker of industrial sacks wants to be valued like a specialist supplier, not a commodity producer -- the numbers so far are doing some of the convincing

Packaging does not usually feature in conversations about India’s manufacturing ambitions, which tend to gravitate towards electric vehicles, semiconductors and specialty chemicals. Knack Packaging, an industrial packaging manufacturer preparing for an initial public offering, is betting that this inattention is itself the opportunity: that as India’s food processors, fertiliser companies and exporters become more brand-conscious and more automated, the case for paying more for a better bag is becoming easier to make. The pitch, drawn from the company’s red herring prospectus, is straightforward enough to state and harder to verify: Knack has spent over a decade moving up the value chain from generic woven sacks towards specialised, customer-specific packaging, and its recent financial performance shows that shift starting to pay off.