Mother and childcare e-commerce platform FirstCry is about to launch its initial public offering (IPO) in the early months of next year, and Softbank Vision Fund has unloaded major shares of the company ahead of the issue.
Softbank, the largest shareholder in retailer FirstCry, has sold additional shares in the company to pave way for family offices and major investment firms to grab their chunk of the firm ahead of the IPO.
Family offices of Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, Ravi Modi of ethnic wear brand Manyavar, Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan, and TVS group family are among the buyers who have purchased equity shares of the company, reported the Economic Times citing sources.
Through this deal, Softbank has cut its stake in FirstCry to less than 25 percent by selling shares worth ₹600 crore ahead of the issue. A couple of years ago, the investment firm used to hold around 30 percent stake in the company.
Before this, the family offices of Ranjan Pai (Manipal Group), Harsh Mariwala’s (Marico) investment office Sharrp Ventures and Hemendra Kothari’s DSP family offices had picked up shares in FirstCry, reported ET in August.
SoftBank has already invested $400 million into FirstCry, first backing the company in 2020. If the company decides to list its valuation at $4 billion, around $1 billion worth stake is still remaining in the company.
FirstCry IPO details: Potential date and issue size
According to preliminary reports, FirstCry is planning to launch its IPO most likely after the Lok Sabha elections, which is expected to spark a boom in the Indian stock market.
The firm was last valued at $3 billion, but the IPO valuation could be listed at $4 billion. The IPO will be launched to raise $500 million, with 37 per cent of the stake for fresh issue and the rest in Offer For Sale (OFS).
FirstCry’s cap table is also expected to be joined by new investors such as Premji Invest–the family office of Wipro founder Azim Premji, and the Mahindra group. The firm is planning to file its IPO papers on December 29, with additional details about the issue set to be released then