Indian payments firm MobiKwik to delay planned IPO: CEO Bipin Preet Singh

IPO-bound fintech firm Mobikwik has turned unicorn after a recent secondary ESOP sale.

Indian payments firm MobiKwik has delayed its plans to proceed with an initial public offering (IPO) of shares this month, its CEO said on Tuesday, in an anticipated move following the dismal market debut of larger rival Paytm earlier this month.

Bajaj Finance-backed MobiKwik will go public "when we feel we are going to have a successful IPO", founder and CEO Bipin Preet Singh told Reuters, adding his firm has a year from October, when it received regulatory approval, to launch an IPO.

Shares in larger payments rival Paytm plummeted this month following their debut and are down more than 30% below its issue price of 2,150 per share, as investors have questioned both the company’s steep valuation and its business model.

Bankers and analysts had warned that Paytm’s dismal showing would put a damper on future offerings after the mega IPO ranked among the worst-performing in Indian history.

Some suggested MobiKwik – a direct rival to Paytm in India’s ultra-competitive payments space – would be among the first to see its IPO prospects impacted.