Softbank-backed FirstCry takes baby steps towards over $1-billion IPO, picks Kotak, Morgan Stanley

Softbank-backed FirstCry, India’s leading omni-channel baby and kids products platform is keen to take baby steps towards Dalal Street and has initiated preliminary discussions with investment banks to launch a mega initial public offer in 2022, multiple sources in the know told Moneycontrol.

FirstCry, which entered India’s burgeoning unicorn club in 2020, is also backed by the likes of Premji Invest, TPG , ChrysCapital, India’s sovereign fund NIIF and its early investors include Ratan Tata, Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan, Chirate Ventures and Newquest Capital Partners.

“Work has begun on the FirstCry IPO and as of now investment banks Kotak Mahindra Capital and Morgan Stanley are on board. More bankers are likely to be added later,” said one of the persons above.

Two other persons confirmed the same.

According to a fourth person familiar with the listing plans of FirstCry, the firm plans to raise in excess of a billion dollars via the listing.

“ The proposed IPO will be a combination of primary and secondary issue of shares and it may be the first pure play listing of its kind. It will provide a partial exit to the multiple investors ,” this person elaborated. Kids wear brands Gini & Jony and Lilliput have attempted domestic IPO’s earlier but those plans haven’t fructified.

All the four persons above spoke to Moneycontrol on the condition of anonymity.

Moneycontrol is awaiting email responses from FirstCry co- founder Supam Maheshwari, Kotak Mahindra Capital and Morgan Stanley and has sent reminders. This article will be updated once we hear from them.

THE NEW BABY ON D–STREET?

Pune-based FirstCry was founded in 2010 by Supam Maheshwari and Amitava Saha. According to its website, it has 7.5 million registered users, 2 lakh plus unique products ( clothing, footwear, accessories, toys, toiletries, feeding items)  6000 brands and more than 400 stores across India, with a presence in the UAE as well. In 2016, the firm acquired babycare business BabyOye, a subsidiary of Mahindra & Mahindra for Rs 362 crores in a cash and stock deal.

FirstCry, which competes with Hopscotch and Kids Stop Press in the online segment, became a unicorn post raising around $296 mn from largest shareholder Softbank in 2020.  The portal also has a parenting platform FirstCry Parenting, India’s largest community for parents.

Apart from FirstCry, its parent company Brainbees also owns Thrasio-style unicorn Globalbees, delivery platform  XpressBees and edtech firm Edubee Solutions.

Also read: Xpressbees raises $300 million in funding from Blackstone Growth, others

Recently, Inc42 had reported that FirstCry had created a $100 mn ESOP pool.