Supam Maheshwari, the founder and Managing Director of SoftBank-backed ecommerce unicorn FirstCry, recently divested over 62 Lakh shares in the startup just days before filing the Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) for its anticipated INR 1,816 Cr Initial Public Offering (IPO).
According to the DRHP filed on December 27, 2023, Maheshwari initially held a 7.46% stake with over 3.5 Cr shares, but by the date of filing, his stake reduced to 5.95% with 2.89 Cr shares. The shares were offloaded in secondary sale transactions, with over 41 Lakh shares sold on December 21 and 27.9 Lakh shares on December 20, both at a price of INR 487.44 per equity share, valuing the startup at over INR 23,000 Cr.
Additionally, the DRHP disclosed the transfer of 1.49 Cr shares to the company’s Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) trust 10 days prior to filing the draft papers.
FirstCry’s upcoming IPO aims to raise INR 1,816 Cr through a fresh issue of shares, accompanied by an Offer-for-Sale (OFS) component involving up to 5.4 Cr equity shares. The OFS will see prominent investors such as SoftBank, Premji Invest, Mahindra & Mahindra, TPG, Ratan Tata, and Supam Maheshwari offloading shares.
In the last two years, Maheshwari’s stake in the parent entity of FirstCry increased significantly, making him the fifth-largest stakeholder in the company after the recent secondary sale in December.
FirstCry, known for its focus on selling babycare products, reported consolidated sales of INR 1,406.9 Cr in the first quarter of FY24. In FY23, the startup’s consolidated operating revenue reached INR 5,632.5 Cr. However, it reported a net loss of INR 110.4 Cr in Q1 FY24, with a loss of INR 486 Cr in the entire FY23. Notably, the company incurred INR 45.2 Cr in ESOP expenses in Q1 of the current fiscal.
