Omnichannel retailer FirstCry is now poised to submit its draft IPO papers in the coming days after having postponed its public listing in the previous year due to volatile market conditions, according to a report by The Economic Times.
The company's target for the public offering is to raise $500-600 million. Although the valuation has not been officially determined, sources familiar with the ongoing discussions suggest that it could be approximately $4 billion at the time of the IPO.
“The draft red herring prospectus ( DRHP) is likely to be filed with the markets regulator Sebi before December 29. The listing is expected to be post the general elections..,” people aware of the matter were quoted as saying by ET.
FirstCry is poised to become the second Indian vertical e-commerce platform to undergo an initial public offering (IPO), following Nykaa's IPO in 2021. Headquartered in Pune, the company specializes in offering a diverse range of products for children and mothers through both online and offline channels.
In anticipation of its IPO, FirstCry attracted investments totaling approximately ₹435 crore in August from three prominent family investment offices within India Inc. These offices include Ranjan Pai's MEMG Family Office (Manipal Group), Harsh Mariwala's Sharrp Ventures (Marico), and Hemendra Kothari's DSP family office. Notably, these investments involved the acquisition of stakes from FirstCry's largest investor, SoftBank.
Adhering to India's FDI laws for e-commerce, FirstCry is required to maintain its foreign shareholding below 51%. In this context, SoftBank is actively working to reduce its stake to below 26% to avoid being classified as a promoter of the company.
Additionally, Ola Electric, another portfolio company under the umbrella of Masayoshi Son's SoftBank Corp, is reportedly preparing to file its Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) in the coming days, according to sources familiar with the matter.
According to a Moneycontrol report, FirstCry and Ola Electric’s common investor SoftBank had marked up the valuations of both the firms, along with a few others in its portfolio, signalling the investor's optimism in the two companies ahead of the IPO.
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