Purple Style Labs Ltd (PSLL) is launching its ₹680 crore IPO today, August 31, 2026, amid an escalating legal dispute with original founder Pernia Qureshi. On Thursday, August 27, 2026, the company's merchant bankers at Axis Capital and IIFL Capital Services received an unexpected legal notice from lawyers representing Qureshi, alleging that PSL was not granted unfettered proprietary entitlement to use the 'Pernia' or 'Pernia's' mark on a standalone basis. According to CNBC TV18, the notice alleges the impugned content is ex-parte false, contrary to mutually agreed license terms, characterizing PSL's use of the 'Pernia' brand as a thinly veiled, disingenuous attempt to present PSL as an entity holding material trademark rights that simply do not vest with it. The legal challenge has now intensified with Qureshi and Pernia Qureshi Consultancy seeking withdrawal of the investor note, issuance of a corrective clarification and removal of Qureshi's name and image from IPO-related promotional material. Following the notice, Axis Capital circulated a revised IPO note and asked recipients to disregard the earlier version, with the amended document narrowing the description of acquired rights to specify that PSL has perpetual, sole, exclusive and worldwide rights to use 'Pernia's' only as part of 'perniaspopupshop', 'Pernia's Pop-Up Shop', 'PPUS' and their derivatives.
Purple Style Labs has demonstrated strong institutional confidence ahead of its public debut, successfully raising ₹306 crore from 10 anchor investors on August 28, 2026. The company allotted 53.22 lakh equity shares at ₹575 each to marquee investors including ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund, Jupiter India Fund, Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance Company Limited, ITI Multi Cap Fund, ITI Flexi Cap Fund, Singularity Equity Fund I, Integrated Core Strategies (Asia) Pte. Ltd., Morgan Stanley Asia (Singapore) Pte., and BoFA Securities Europe SA – ODI. Out of the total allocation, 1,739,192 equity shares, or 32.68% of the total allocation, were allotted to two domestic mutual funds through three schemes, giving Purple Style Labs an institutional start before the issue opens for public bidding next week. The shares have a face value of ₹10 each, including a share premium of ₹565 per equity share, as per the company's exchange filing. At the upper end of the price band, the issue values Purple Style Labs at a market capitalisation of over ₹4,600 crore.
Purple Style Labs Ltd (PSLL), the parent company of Pernia's Pop-Up Shop, is launching its ₹680 crore Initial Public Offering (IPO) today, August 31, 2026, with the price band set at ₹546-575 per share. The three-day offering will conclude on September 2, 2026, while bidding for anchor investors was completed on Friday, August 28, 2026. The IPO consists entirely of a fresh issue of 1.18 crore equity shares of face value ₹10 each, with no Offer For Sale (OFS) component. The minimum retail investment is ₹14,950 with retail investors able to apply up to 13 lots, where investors can bid for a minimum of 26 equity shares with subsequent bids in multiples of 26 shares. Axis Capital Ltd and IIFL Capital Services are serving as the book-running lead managers to the issue, with KFin Technologies as the registrar. IPO allotment will be finalized on September 3, 2026 and investors will be credited with their shares and refunds by September 4, 2026, with the company expected to list on NSE and BSE on September 7, 2026. The IPO has reserved up to 75% of the net offer for qualified institutional buyers (QIBs), at least 15% for non-institutional investors (NIIs), and at least 10% for retail investors.
The legal dispute centers on an August 26 investor communication circulated by Axis Capital that described Purple Style Labs' acquisition of perpetual, sole, exclusive and worldwide rights to use 'Pernia's', 'Pernia's Pop-Up Shop', 'PPUS' and related derivatives following its acquisition of the business in 2018. However, Qureshi's side has challenged this description, arguing that the underlying licence agreement granted only limited rights tied to the Pernia's Pop-Up Shop brand and did not permit the standalone use of 'Pernia' or 'Pernia's'. The notice alleges that the wording in the investor note overstated the scope of the rights conveyed under the agreements and differed from disclosures contained in the company's offer documents. Purple Style Labs has clarified that its use of the brand has always been consistent with the agreements, stating "As per the agreements and the licence arrangement, Purple Style Labs does not use 'Pernia' or 'Pernia's' as a standalone name. The rights relate specifically to the use of 'Pernia's' as part of 'Pernia's Pop-Up Shop', 'perniaspopupshop' and PPUS, in accordance with the terms of the agreements." The company emphasized that the legal notice has been copied to IIFL Capital Services and the Securities and Exchange Board of India, adding uncertainty to what is already the 23rd mainboard issue to hit Dalal Street this month.
According to The Hindu BusinessLine, Whole-time Director and CEO Abhishek Agarwal explained that the decision to go public was driven by the company's growth trajectory, stating "once we cross ₹500 crore revenue we were clear that there is lot of headroom in terms of the industry growth and the market share growth potentially." Agarwal founded the parent company in 2015 and acquired Pernia's Pop-Up Shop in February 2018, when it was primarily an online platform. The company has since expanded to 14 physical experience centers, 12 across India, one in London, and one in New York, which became operational in March 2026. The luxury wedding and occasion wear market is expected to grow at 25%, while Purple Style Labs itself has grown at approximately 60% over the last five years, or roughly 11 to 12 times since acquisition. The company's online platform recorded over 1.9 crore unique visitors in FY26 against an active customer base of 65,000, of whom the top 1,000 customers contributed approximately ₹400 crore of the ₹720 crore in total sales. Experience centers generate significantly higher average order values, ₹90,000 compared to ₹38,000 for online transactions in India. Purple Style Labs operates as a multi-brand luxury omni-channel fashion platform under Pernia's Pop-Up Shop (PPUS), offering a curated portfolio of luxury fashion products across womenswear, menswear, jewellery, accessories and kidswear, with a focus on wedding and occasion wear. The company sources products from 1,109 active designer brands as of March 2026, including Seema Gujral, Anushree Reddy, Amit Aggarwal and Rohit Gandhi and Rahul Khanna. Its omnichannel ecosystem comprises experience centers, website, mobile application, telephonic and digital sales channels, events and exhibitions.
As reported by The Hindu BusinessLine, the company plans to utilize ₹371.13 crore of the IPO proceeds for investment in its wholly-owned subsidiary, PSL Retail, for lease liabilities of Experience Centers and back-end offices in India. Abhishek Agarwal explained the rationale, stating "if we are using the capital for the payment of lease liabilities which would ensure that it is getting spent towards the growth. And if it is able to generate free cash flow then it throws money back into the company." The ₹138.90 crore allocated towards sales and marketing expenses will be deployed strategically between FY27 and FY30, with ₹18 crore in FY27, ₹40 crore in FY28, ₹44 crore in FY29, and ₹36.90 crore in FY30. The spending is intended for brand-building initiatives including targeted digital marketing campaigns, endorsements, sponsorships, television advertising, influencer-led initiatives and social media content strategies, as well as efforts to expand the company's presence in international markets. The ₹371.13 crore for lease liabilities will ensure the company's growth infrastructure is secured. The remaining proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes.
