Mobikwik says ‘will list at the right time’, path to profitability clear

Fintech major Mobikwik clarified on Tuesday that it will make its share market debut “at the right time”. The comment came amid speculations that the firm is delaying its IPO by a few months as it struggles to find foreign institutional investors at the right valuation. The tepid listing of competitor Paytm seems to have dented investor sentiment for Mobikwik, recent reports suggested.

Mobikwik had received approval from market regulator Sebi for a ₹1,900 crore initial public offering (IPO) back in October.

“MobiKwik has a unique DNA – it was bootstrapped for the first 4 years and has achieved its current scale of 101 million users (as of March 2021) having spent only $100 million since inception,” Mobikwik said.

Stating that it has always adopted a sustainable growth strategy, Mobikwik said it is "witnessing strong business growth, has a clear path to profitability and will list at the right time.”

“The company is focused on Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) for daily life payments and has the largest number of pre-approved BNPL users in India at 22.3 million (as of March 2021),” the company added.

The Gurugram-based company had filed the Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) for the IPO with the Securities Exchange Board of India (Sebi) in July. The capital market regulator has approved MobiKwik's plan for the IPO.

Through the IPO, the company plans to offer shares aggregating to ₹1,900 crore. Out of the total, ₹1,500 crore will be mopped up through fresh issue of shares, while ₹400 crore-worth stocks will be offloaded through the Offer-for-Sale (OFS) route by existing shareholders.

American Express Travel Related Services Company Inc, Bajaj Finance, Cisco Systems (USA) Pte Ltd, Sequoia Capital India Investment Holdings III, Sequoia Capital India Investments IV, Tree Line Asia Master Fund (Singapore) Pte Ltd, as well as the company's promoters — Upasana Taku and Bipin Preet Singh — will be selling shares through the IPO.

Proceeds from the fresh issue of shares will be used towards funding organic as well as inorganic growth initiatives and general corporate purpose.

Shares of One97 Communications Ltd on Thursday made a weak market debut and tumbled over 27 per cent from the issue price of ₹2,150. On Monday, the scrip had dropped nearly 14 per cent to ₹1,350.35 apiece. After declining for two days, shares of One 97 Communications gained nearly 10 per cent to ₹1,494.95 apiece on Tuesday.

(With PTI inputs)