Logistics services provider Delhivery has started work on a potential initial public offering, three people aware of the development said.
“Delhivery is looking to go public and they have initiated a process to appoint investment bankers to advise it on the public offering. They have invited investment banks to pitch for the IPO mandate. These meetings are expected to happen in the coming few weeks,” said one of the persons cited above, requesting anonymity as he is not authorized to speak to reporters.
Since these are very early days into the process, there is no clarity on the structure of the transaction that the company is looking at, he said. “It is likely that the public offering will be a mix of primary and secondary share sales, given that the company has a long roster of investors that would like to sell some stake. However, all of that will only be finalized when work starts on the draft document,” he added.
The Carlyle Group-backed company provides express logistics services in over 1,200 cities in India and operates several fulfillment centres for B2C and B2B fulfillment services. Founded in 2011, it provides less-than-truckload shipping, full truckload shipping, cross-border delivery and a range of supply chain technology products to enterprises and small businesses.
Emails sent on Friday to Delhivery and its founders Sahil Barua and Kapil Bharati were not answered till press time.
Carlyle acquired a significant stake in Delhivery in a $100 million investment round in March 2017. The round also saw participation from Delhivery’s existing investor Tiger Global. An Economic Times report said the deal valued Delhivery at $700 million.
Earlier in 2015, Delhivery had raised $85 million from Tiger Global, Renuka Ramnath-led Multiples Alternate Asset Management, Nexus Venture Partners and Times Internet.
A successful IPO will add Delhivery to the list of technology companies that have gone public in the last couple of years.
Last year, online matchmaking services provider Matrimony.com went public in a Rs500 crore IPO which saw its venture capital investors Bessemer Venture Partners and Mayfield India sell part of their stakes. Also in 2017, telecom equipment maker Tejas Networks Ltd went public in a Rs776 crore initial share sale. Several investors of Tejas Networks such as Cascade Capital Management, India Industrial Growth Fund (Frontline Strategy), Intel Capital and Sandstone Capital sold shares in the public offering.
Other technology companies that have gone public in the recent past include e-commerce company Infibeam Incorporation Ltd and Sequoia Capital-backed antivirus software maker Quick Heal Technologies Ltd.
Source: Mint