Sebi clears FirstCry and Unicommerce IPO

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has cleared IPO proposals of two portfolio firms of SoftBank--omnichannel baby products retailer FirstCry and ecommerce enterprise software developer Unicommerce, according to the market regulator.

Pune-based FirstCry, which also sells mother care products, had refiled its draft prospectus with the market regulator on April 30 following queries on its key performance indicators (KPI).

FirstCry, which counts Premji Invest among its investors, is looking to raise $218 million (about Rs 1,815 crore) solely by selling new shares. Existing investors will also offload 54 million shares in the public offering through an offer for sale (OFS).


FirstCry may launch its IPO later in July. Including primary and secondary share sales, the IPO is expected to be worth $500 million (about Rs 4,163 crore), ET reported earlier.

For Unicommerce, which filed draft papers with Sebi in January, the issue will solely comprise an OFS by existing investors to raise Rs 480-490 crore.

SoftBank currently owns a 29.2% stake in the company, while AceVector holds 38.2% and B2 Capital has close to 10%.

SoftBank will be the largest selling shareholder in Unicommerce, offering 16.2 million shares, or a 15% stake in the IPO. AceVector will sell 11.4 million shares (10%) and B2 Capital will offer 2.2 million shares (2%).

AceVector Ltd, along with its founders Bahl and Bansal, has been the operator of Unicommerce while SoftBank is a financial investor.

Earlier in June, Gurgaon-based Unicommerce tagged SoftBank as well as Snapdeal cofounders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal as its promoters in an addendum filed to the draft prospectus.

SoftBank has also signed an indemnity agreement with Bahl and Bansal to protect itself and its executives from any liabilities that may arise out of the responsibilities of being deemed a promoter of Unicommerce.

In the nine months ended December, FirstCry incurred a net loss of Rs 278 crore on operating revenue of Rs 4,814 crore. The company’s gross sales stood at Rs 5,650 crore during the period. It generates nearly 77% of total sales from online, and the rest from offline retail stores.

FirstCry, which also includes family offices like Manipal group’s Ranjan Pai among its investors, was last valued at less than $3 billion in the private market. The company is considering its IPO at a valuation of around $4 billion, ET had reported earlier.

Latest data shows the company has a network of 1,018 FirstCry and BabyHug stores across 508 cities. Pine Kids, Cutewalk and Babyoye are among its other brands. FirstCry runs its own stores as well as through franchisees.

The company said earlier it would use proceeds from the IPO’s primary issue for setting up stores and warehouses besides expanding into Saudi Arabia.