Urban Company hires banks for IPO, likely to file by March-end

(L to R) Varun Khaitan, Raghav Chandra and Abhiraj Singh Bhal, co-founders,  Urban Company.
(L to R) Varun Khaitan, Raghav Chandra and Abhiraj Singh Bhal, co-founders, Urban Company.

Summary

  • The home services company backed by Prosus, Tiger Global and Steadfast Capital has appointed Kotak Mahindra Capital, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to run the IPO.  

Mumbai: Home services platform Urban Company plans to file draft papers for a 3,000 crore initial public offering (IPO) before the end of the March quarter, three people aware of the development said. The Prosus-backed company has already appointed Kotak Mahindra Capital, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to manage the IPO, the people said.

The company, last valued at $2.1 billion in June 2021, will issue new and existing shares in the IPO, the people cited above said on the condition of anonymity.

“The banks have been appointed and the draft documents are likely to be filed by the end of the current quarter," one of the persons cited above said. “The company will largely raise primary capital," he added.

Also read | India sees more startups encashing Esops in 2024 in pre-IPO, secondary deals

Capital raised

In June 2021, the Gurugram-based company had raised $255 million in a Series F funding round led by investors including Prosus, Dragoneer and Wellington Management. Other leading investors in the company include Vy Capital, Tiger Global and Steadview Capital.

The company first considered filing for an IPO in 2021, but later suspended the plan. In 2022, it hired four independent directors—Ashish Gupta, Ireena Vittal, Deepinder Goyal and Shyamal Mukherjee —to strengthen its board ahead of a potential listing.

Also read | Urban Company is eyeing profits and an IPO. But gig workers are angry

In August 2024, Mint first reported on the plans of some of Urban Company’s early-stage investors to cash out ahead of the IPO as part of realigning its capitalization table.

Emailed queries to the spokespersons of Urban Company, Kotak Mahindra Capital., and Morgan Stanley remained unanswered. A Goldman Sachs spokesperson declined to comment.

Founded in 2014 by Raghav Chandra, Abhiraj Singh Bhal and Varun Khaitan, the company, which is a technology marketplace for home services such as beauty and spa, cleaning, plumbing and appliance repair, also ventured into branded home appliances last year with the launch of a range of water purifiers. It has operations in more than 50 Indian cities as well as international locations including the UAE, Singapore and Saudi Arabia.

Urban Company's financial performance

Urban Company's consolidated revenues grew around 30% year on year (y-o-y) in FY24 to reach 827 crore, while losses before tax fell from 312 crore in FY23 to 93 crore in FY24. In the first quarter of FY25, it recorded a consolidated revenue of 281 crore, a 37.3% up from a year earlier, , and a profit before tax of 12 crore.

Also read | Urban Company’s early backers Steadview, Elevation, Accel to sell partial stake

Last year, India-focused investment firm Dharana Capital had purchased shares worth 400 crore, or $50 million, in Urban Company from its employees and other shareholders. They gave exit to some of their early investors including Titan Capital – founded by Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal, which logged nearly 200 times return on their nine-year-old seed cheque of 57 lakh.

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