FirstCry Files DRHP With SEBI, Aims To Raise ₹1,816 Cr In Upcoming IPO

FirstCry, a Pune-based omnichannel marketplace, is gearing up for a significant financial leap. The company’s parent, BrainBees Solutions Private Limited, has filed a draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with SEBI, aiming to raise ₹1,816 crore through a fresh issue of shares.

What to know? This move includes an offer-for-sale (OFS) of 5.4 crore equity shares, with major stakeholders like Japan’s SoftBank and Premji Invest participating, and even founder Supam Maheshwari selling a portion of his stake.

The funds raised from this Initial Public Offering (IPO) will be strategically allocated. FirstCry plans to invest ₹648 crore in setting up new stores and warehouses in India, along with covering lease payments for existing stores.

Additionally, FirstCry plans to earmark ₹155.6 crore for expanding into Saudi Arabia through its subsidiary, FirstCry Trading.

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The company also intends to invest ₹170.5 crore in Globalbees Brands, another subsidiary, to acquire stakes in indirect subsidiaries. Further investments include ₹100 crore in sales and marketing and ₹57.6 crore in technology and data science.

More plans: FirstCry is also considering conducting a pre-IPO private placement of equity shares worth up to ₹363 crore, which it will deduct from the fresh issue amount.

Despite reporting a net loss of ₹110 crore in the quarter ending June 30, 2023, and a significant increase in net loss to ₹486 crore in FY23 from ₹78.6 crore in the previous fiscal year, FirstCry’s sales soared to ₹5,632.5 crore in FY23, a 135% jump from FY22.

The company’s financials reflect the performance of its 38 subsidiaries, including Globalbees, and it had 8.25 million annual unique transacting customers as of June 30, 2023.

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