SoftBank sells shares worth $310 million in FirstCry ahead of IPO

SoftBank is still left with shares valued in the range of $800-900 million, a source said

Japanese investment conglomerate SoftBank has sold shares worth $310 million in omnichannel retailer FirstCry, which is likely to file a draft paper for IPO this week, news agency PTI reported on December 25 citing sources.

"SoftBank recently sold shares worth Rs 630 crore in FirstCry. It was picked up by a few high net worth individuals. With this sale, SoftBank has realised USD 310 million from two rounds of stake sale in FirstCry," a source told PTI.

As per the report, the sale values FirstCry in the range of $3.5-3.75 billion. SoftBank had invested $400 million in FirstCry at an enterprise valuation of $900 million.

Another source told PTI that SoftBank is still left with shares valued in the range of  $800 million-$900 million which it will sell later.

Meanwhile, in November, SoftBank had marked up the valuations FirstCry, along with a few others in its portfolio, signalling the investor's optimism in the two companies ahead of the IPO, according to a Moneycontrol report.

"FirstCry is looking to raise $500 million and 60 percent of that will be the offer for sale (OFS) component while the remaining will be the primary part," one of the people told Moneycontrol.

While FirstCry is likely to list only after the general election in 2024, Ola Electric's management has already begun roadshows with domestic and international investors, the person added.

More recently, Ranjan Pai's MEMG Family Office, Harsh Mariwala's Sharrp Ventures and Hemendra Kothari's DSP family office picked up shares worth Rs 435 crore in FirstCry, per reports.

The Pune-based startup will be the first large e-commerce firm to IPO after Nykaa listed in 2021.

(With inputs from PTI)