• | 5:34 pm

SoftBank eyes windfall from IPOs of Ola arm, Firstcry, Unicommerce

At current valuations, the Japanese investor is sitting on gains of at least $1 billion, including part exits, from its investments in Ola Electric and Firstcry, says report

SoftBank eyes windfall from IPOs of Ola arm, Firstcry, Unicommerce
[Source photo: Chetan Jha]

Japanese investor SoftBank may land a windfall from the Indian market this year as at least four of its portfolio firms get ready to go public, Mint reported.

While electric two-wheeler maker Ola Electric’s initial public offering (IPO) opens on Friday, 2 August, omnichannel baby products retailer Firstcry and business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce firm Unicommerce are likely to go public next month. Food delivery firm Swiggy is likely to go public later around Deepavali.

Ola Electric on Monday said its ₹6,100 crore (about $735 million) IPO, the biggest share sale in the country this year, would be open between 2 August and 6 August at a price band of ₹72-76.

The IPO comprises a fresh issue of shares worth ₹5,500 crore and an offer for sale (OFS) of 84.9 million shares, the draft prospectus showed. At the upper price band, the OFS would be worth about ₹645.56 crore.

The Masayoshi Son-run investment firm, which owns a 21.98% stake, or 81 million shares, in Ola Electric, is considering selling 23.8 million shares, or 30% of its holding, via the OFS. The public offering is likely to value the company at $4.5-5 billion.

The Japanese firm had first invested $250 million in the clean mobility company in 2019. Five years on, the Japanese investor may make 3X returns on a risk-adjusted basis, the report said.

Similarly, the Japanese investor, which invested $300 million in Firstcry in 2020, has already plowed back its investment by selling stakes worth $320 million in the past four years, and still boasts a 25% stake.

SoftBank is likely to sell one-sixth of its stake, or 20.32 million shares, in Firstcry as part of the OFS, the draft prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) showed.

At current valuations, the Japanese investor is sitting on gains of at least $1 billion from its investments in both the companies, including part exits, the report added.

SoftBank’s India portfolio across its two vision funds have jumped by 9% to $13.8 billion as of December, the Japanese investor said in its earnings release for the nine months till 2023 end.

While its vision fund I accounted for $9.3 billion, the second vision fund accounted for $4.5 billion, the company’s earnings presentation showed, with Flipkart being among its top 15 most valued firms that also included Uber, Doordash, and ByteDance.

“We’re very pleased with our India portfolio. In fact, FirstCry and Ola Electric filed for a listing in December of 2023. OYO is also expected in the coming year or so to go public,” SoftBank Vision fund executive managing partner Navneet Govil said in an earnings call.

SoftBank is among big-ticket investors in India, with stakes in retailer Flipkart, hotels aggregator OYO, and food delivery platform Swiggy.

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