HNIs Line Up As SoftBank Offloads Stake Worth $310 Mn In IPO-Bound FirstCry

Japanese tech investor SoftBank has reportedly offloaded a part of its stake in IPO-bound FirstCry for $310 Mn (INR 630 Cr). 

Sources told news agency PTI that the shares were lapped up by a few high-net-worth individuals (HNIs), pegging the ecommerce unicorn at a $3.5 Bn to $3.75 Bn valuation. 

“SoftBank recently sold shares worth INR 630 Cr in FirstCry. It was picked up by a few high-net-worth individuals. With this sale, SoftBank has realised $310 Mn from two rounds of stake sale in FirstCry,” the news agency reported, citing a source. 

As per the report, another person familiar with the development said that the tech investor still owns shares valued at $800 Mn-900 Mn in FirstCry, which SoftBank will sell at a later date. With this, SoftBank is reportedly expected to make around $1.3 Bn from the investment made in the ecommerce major. 

It is pertinent to note that SoftBank is said to have earlier invested around $400 Mn in FirstCry at an enterprise valuation of $900 Mn. SoftBank has been looking to pare its stake in the company to effectively bring it down below the 26% mark so that the investor is not classified as a promoter of FirstCry.

Earlier this year, Ranjan Pai’s Manipal Education and Medical Group family office, Harsh Mariwala’s investment office Sharrp Ventures, and the DSP family office of Hemendra Kothari picked up stakes in the ecommerce major for about INR 435 Cr from SoftBank.

The stake sales come as the startup plans to reportedly file its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) before December 29. With an eye on raising $500 Mn-$600 Mn through the IPO, the company is targeting a valuation of $4 Bn during the IPO. 

Founded in 2010 by Supam Maheshwari and Amitava Saha, FirstCry is an omnichannel kids and baby marketplace. 

The company clocked a net loss of INR 78.7 Cr in the financial year 2021-22 (FY22) against a profit of INR 216 Cr in FY21. 

The company’s IPO plans have been in the works for some time now. It converted into a public company last year. Since then, however, the plans have not materialised as volatile market conditions and a slump in the share prices of listed new-age tech companies played spoilsport for the company’s plans to list on the bourses. 

If the plan materialises, FirstCry will become the second new-age Indian vertical ecommerce major to go public after Nykaa. As per Inc42 data, as many as 10 Indian startups are slated to go public in 2024.

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