Meesho inches closer to IPO with NCLT approval to flip back to India

During its initial days, back in 2017, Y Combinator, an early backer of Meesho, required its portfolio companies to be domiciled outside India so it would be easier for them to secure funding and scale.

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has allowed Meesho, an e-commerce startup, to flip its headquarters back to India from Delaware in the United States, taking the company one step ahead in its IPO journey, regulatory filings showed.

Now that Meesho has received a clearance from the NCLT to demerge with the US-based entity, the company will proceed to merge with the Indian firm and fully complete the process of redomiciling in India.

A complete flip back to India is necessary for Meesho if it wants to list on the bourses here. During its initial days, back in 2017, Y Combinator, an early backer of Meesho, required its portfolio companies to be domiciled outside India so it would be easier for them to secure funding and scale.

Meesho, which began the process of flipping back to India sometime in 2024, has been simultaneously preparing for its IPO, scheduled around Diwali this year, by converting into a public entity and more.

“In view of the above discussion, we conclude that the objections/observations to the scheme received from (the Registrar of Companies/Regional Director)  RoC/RD and Income Tax Department have been adequately explained by the petitioner (Meesho) companies and hence there is no impediment in approval of the scheme,” the filing, reviewed by Moneycontrol, read.

Once the flip back is fully complete, in the coming days, Meesho will look to file its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) in a few weeks’ time, Moneycontrol had reported earlier.

A spokesperson for Meesho said the filing is part of its ongoing transition to re-domicile in India.

“With the majority of our operations, including customers, sellers, creators and Valmo partners already based here, this step aligns our corporate structure with our day-to-day business footprint,” a company spokesperson told Moneycontrol.

The company, which began the process of flipping back to India sometime in 2024, aims to go public later this year, around Diwali, and raise as much as $1 billion at a valuation of $10 billion, Moneycontrol had exclusively reported in March.

With the move, Meesho now joins a growing list of Indian startups such as Razorpay, PhonePe, Groww, and Zepto which have all moved their base back to India after being headquartered outside.