SoftBank-backed food delivery company Swiggy is considering a 2024 listing and has started talks with bankers to assess its valuation after a process stalled for months due to market weakness, three sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.
Swiggy, a restaurant and grocery delivery service, was valued at $10.7 billion (nearly Rs 8,835 crore) at its last funding round in 2022, but like many Indian startups, has struggled due to tight funding and overvalued investors. Gao’s concerns, the company shelved its IPO plans.
But with the rebound in global and Indian markets, Swiggy has restarted its IPO plans and invited eight investment banks, including Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America, to pitch the IPO in early September, two sources said.
A source directly involved in the planning process said Swiggy is using its $10.7 billion valuation from its last funding round as a benchmark for its IPO planning. But the company has not yet decided on a potential stake sale or a final valuation, the source said.
Invesco, Swiggy’s minority shareholder, said in a filing that it valued the Indian company at about $5.5 billion (nearly Rs 45,400 crore).
Swiggy was initially considering raising between $800 million (nearly Rs 6,600 crore) and $1 billion (nearly Rs 8,260 crore) in an IPO, banking sources involved in the project in early 2022 said.
Swiggy, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley did not respond to requests for comment, while Bank of America declined to comment.
Swiggy is targeting a listing between July and September 2024, after India’s national elections in May, three sources said.
Shares of Swiggy rival Zomato have risen 54.8% so far this year, a sign that investor confidence is restoring Indian financial markets.
Indian grocery startup Zepto said on Friday it has raised $200 million (nearly Rs 16.50 crore) in new funding at a valuation of $1.4 billion (nearly Rs 1,156 crore), becoming the first Indian startup to break the $1 billion valuation mark Mark nearly a year.
Swiggy said in May that its core food delivery business was profitable nine years after it started operating, although its new grocery delivery service, Instamart, is still losing money.
© Thomson Reuters 2023
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