Softbank Valuing Firstcry Ipo Secondary Market Share Sale At $4b

SoftBank and NewQuest Capital Partners are considering selling a portion of FirstCry shares in the secondary market. The FirstCry IPO will take place in the next few months as previously planned. The sale value of the shares of this company will be 3.5 to 4 billion dollars. Read on to know more. According to reports published in The Economic Times, SoftBank owns a 29 per cent stake in FirstCry, which it plans to reduce to 25 per cent by selling these shares. Currently, the largest shareholder is a Japanese financial institution led by Masayoshi Son.

Negotiations are underway between FirstCry and Kedaara Capital, a Mumbai-based private equity firm, to participate in the second round.If the deal goes through, it would be the third major secondary sale of shares in FirstCry. If the deal goes through without a hitch, FirstCry’s total value will rise to $4 billion from the $2.7 billion raised in a second stock sale earlier this year.

According to the Economic Times, “It’s like a pre-IPO deal that sets a price for the company and wants to raise domestic capital.” The Red Herring prospecting project will soon be registered by this company for an initial public offering. Earlier this year, Premji Investments led the way with $315 billion, followed by FirstCry with $2.7 billion. Premji Investments currently owns 9-11% of the shares.

Apart from Premji Investments, there are other major shareholders. Among them is Mahindra Retail with a share of 12-13 per cent and the American private investment company TPG with a share of 5-6 per cent. FirstCry is trying to reduce its foreign ownership, thereby allowing Indian private equity players to enter the fray.