India’s largest online insurance aggregator Policybazaar, which is backed by global investment giants like Softbank & Temasek, is likely to shortlist investment banks Kotak Mahindra Capital, Morgan Stanley, ICICI Securities & Citi as advisors for its IPO, one of the most eagerly anticipated listings in 2021 from the booming consumer internet space, sources with knowledge of the matter told Moneycontrol.
“These 4 advisors may come on board post the recent pitches. Currently, the plan is for a domestic listing,” one of the individuals cited above told Moneycontrol. Three other individuals also confirmed the same.
All four individuals spoke to Moneycontrol on the condition of anonymity.
In response to an email query from Moneycontrol, a Policybazaar spokesperson said, “It’s all hearsay. We have nothing more to say on this.”
Moneycontrol is awaiting responses to email queries sent to Kotak Mahindra Capital, Morgan Stanley & Citi. ICICI Securities declined to comment.
THE POLICYBAZAAR IPO: SIZE & JURISDICTION
In July 2020, Policybazaar co-founder & CEO Yashish Dahiya had told Bloomberg that the online insurance marketplace plans to go public in India before September 2021 and raise around $500 mn via the proposed IPO. The listing was planned at a valuation north of $3.5bn, the report said.
Recently, co-founder and CFO Alok Bansal told the Times of India that the firm is inclined towards a domestic IPO, but will take a final call, whether to list in India or abroad, based on final listing guidelines, by the end of the financial year.
THE CRÈME DE LA CRÈME OF INVESTORS
Policybazaar is housed under Etech Aces Marketing & Consulting which also houses lending marketplace Paisabazaar. Other than heavyweights Softbank and Temasek, it has a long list of enviable list of investors on board, which includes India’s first dotcom to list on the domestic bourses, Info Edge ( which backs Zomato, Naukri.com and 99acres.com), Premji Invest, Tiger Global, True North, Steadview Capital, Ribbit Capital, Inventus, Chiratae Ventures & Wellington Management.
The firm’s listing plans come on the back of a sharp spike in the demand for online health and life insurance products post the outbreak of Covid-19. It offers products in segments ranging from life insurance ( it claims to account for 25 per cent of India’s life cover), investment plans, health insurance, motor insurance, general insurance, travel insurance and others. According to its website, it hit 10 million unique customers in FY 19, sells 4 lakh insurance policies every month and has 40 plus insurers on its platform.
KEY TRENDS IN THE DOMESTIC INTERNET SEGMENT
A slew of IPO’s by Indian internet companies, including Zomato, Nykaa and Delhivery are expected to hit the markets in the coming months.
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