FirstCry and Unicommerce IPO proposals approved by SEBI

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has approved the IPO proposals of two SoftBank portfolio companies-FirstCry and Unicommerce, according to a report in the Economic Times.

Unicommerce, a software developer for e-commerce businesses, had filed draft documents with SEBI in January, seeking an offer for sale (OFS) from existing investors to raise Rs 480-490 crore.

On the other hand, FirstCry submitted a draft prospectus to the market regulator on April 30 in response to queries regarding key performance indicators (KPIs).

As of the latest data, Pune-based omni-channel baby products retailer FirstCry has a network of 1,018 FirstCry and BabyHug stores across 508 cities, both company-owned and franchised. Other brands include Pine Kids, Cutewalk and Babyoye.

With Premji Invest among its investors, FirstCry aims to raise $218 million (around Rs 1.1815 crore) solely through the sale of fresh shares, while existing investors will sell 54 million shares through an offer for sale (OFS).

FirstCry is believed to launch its IPO by the end of July. The IPO is expected to be valued at $500 million (around Rs 4,163 crore) including primary and secondary shares. The company, which also counts family offices like Ranjan Pai of Manipal Group among its investors, was recently valued at less than $3 billion in the private market and is considering valuing the IPO at around $4 billion, ET reported earlier.

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The company said it would use the proceeds from the initial public offering to set up stores and warehouses, as well as expand into the Saudi Arabian market.

FirstCry reported a net loss of Rs 278 crore on operating revenue of Rs 4,818 crore for the nine months ended December. The company’s gross sales stood at Rs 5,650 crore during the period, with 77% of total sales generated through online and the rest from offline retail stores.

In Unicommerce, SoftBank holds a 29.2 percent stake, while AceVector and B2 Capital hold 38.2 percent and 10 percent, respectively.

Gurgaon-based Unicommerce had earlier in June named co-founders of SoftBank and Snapdeal as its promoters in an addendum filed with its draft prospectus.

Further, as per the report, SoftBank has signed a security agreement with Bahl and Bansal to protect itself and its executives from any liability that may arise from being deemed a promoter of Unicommerce.