FirstCry Share Price: When Anand Mahindra Decided to ‘Support’ FirstCry, Instead of ‘Fighting It’

Though few people know this, FirstCry and Anand Mahindra Partners, which owned Baby Oye and Mom & Me, were almost rivals at one point.

However, almost eight years ago, in October 2016, Mahindra joined forces with FirstCry founder Supam Maheshwari, deciding to “support” him rather than “fight against him.”

On Tuesday, e-commerce giant FirstCry, which is involved in the childcare segment, made its debut on D-Street. It was priced at Rs 651 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE), down from an offer price of Rs 465.

Speaking at the listing ceremony, the 69-year-old Mahindra shared a brief anecdote underlining the pride his group feels in its stake in the Maheshwari-led startup.

Mahindra emphasised that the formation of Mahindra Partners in 2010 was born out of a desire to instill a startup mentality in the Mahindra Group and that the company’s mandate was to invest in and incubate companies in emerging sectors, which was the basis for its involvement in FirstCry, Anand Mahindra said.

“Of course, they would have to do that by competing with various startups and honestly, nobody bets on big companies, as you know. So I asked one of my colleagues Zhooben Bhiwandiwala and another colleague Parag Shah to come on board. Zhooben as the senior managing director of the company and then Parag as the managing director,” he added. Mahindra highlighted several key initiatives of Mahindra Partners, including the transformation of Mahindra Logistics and the successful entry into the renewable energy sector with Mahindra Susten. He also noted Mahindra Accelo’s evolution from a trading company to a manufacturing powerhouse.

A key chapter in that journey was Mahindra Partners’ investment in Mom & Me, a baby and toddler company, and its subsequent acquisition of Baby Oye. That strategic move, Ananad Mahindra said, put the group in direct competition with FirstCry.

Mahindra recalled how Zhooben Bhiwandiwala had advocated for the merger with FirstCry, appreciating the genius and global vision of its CEO, Supam Maheshwari.

“One day Zhooben came to me and said, ‘You know Anand, I’ve studied this man and he’s brilliant. He’s an innovator, he’s passionate, he’s relentlessly focused on efficiency. He has a global vision,’ which I’m glad is manifesting today in the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Then he said, ‘it’s time for us to
really create value by consolidating with them. I think it will be better if we support him rather than fight him,'” the business tycoon said.

He continued: “That’s why, ladies and gentlemen, we merged with FirstCry and at that time we became the largest shareholder. Then, you know, Supam took off like a rocket. It created a delivery system
“it’s the envy of many global online retailers. Which, I think, of course attracted Softbank, and the rest is history.”

Anand Mahindra conveyed his best wishes and thanks to FirstCry and its CEO Maheshwari. “I want to congratulate you (Supam Maheshwari) and express my gratitude for creating tremendous value for Mahindra. And I want to thank you in particular for creating tremendous value for this country.”