Policybazaar parent firm PB Fintech aims to raise Rs 6,500 crore via IPO

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PB Fintech, the parent company of online insurance marketplace Policybazaar, is aiming to raise around Rs 6,500 crore via an initial public offering (IPO), CNBC TV18 reported on July 20, citing an RoC filing.

The company had received approval for IPO at the Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) held on July 5.

The regulatory filing also showed that PB Fintech, the holding entity of Policybazaar, has been converted into a public limited company.

Earlier, Moneycontrol had reported that Policybazaar could file a draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) in July and eventually list by November-December at a valuation of $4-5 billion, a valuation higher than previously planned.

Also Read | IPO-bound PolicyBazaar opens retail stores; hires former SBI senior executive

For FY20, the latest fiscal for which its numbers are available, Policybazaar recorded a loss of Rs 218 crore on a revenue of Rs 515 crore, compared to a loss of Rs 213 crore on a revenue of Rs 310 crore in FY19. One person tracking the company said that its revenue has doubled and losses have come down since its last filing.

“The business fundamentally has good economics and they are well capitalised. Raising primary money is a smaller objective of the IPO. They can get a good valuation with the current market sentiment and the IPO serves as a testimony to the company’s maturity,” this person added.

Notably, the company’s list of investors includes Japan’s SoftBank, private equity firm True North, Premji Invest, Tiger Global Management and Temasek.

Policybazaar was founded in 2008 by Yashish Dahiya, who hails from an army family and had himself planned to join the army for many years. His army background is also part of why he refused money from Chinese investors during the Doklam standoff, and was open to buying back Chinese investor Tencent’s stake recently, given Indo-China political tensions.