FirstCry sees Rs 435 Cr transaction with 3 Indian family offices picking stake from SoftBank: Report

FirstCry, the omnichannel unicorn retailer focused on children and women segments, saw a secondary transaction with three Indian family offices picking up stakes from existing investor SoftBank, according to a report.

Three Indian family investment offices—Ranjan Pai’s MEMG Family Office, Sharrp Ventures of Harish Mariwala, and Hemendra Kothari’s DSP family office—have bought a stake from SoftBank in a transaction valued at Rs 435 crore, The Economic Times has reported.

SoftBank, which held 29% ownership in FirstCry, has reportedly diluted its stake by about 1-2%.

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“Our early investors have been instrumental in our success, and we are delighted to have helped deliver multi-fold returns to our investors. I welcome our new investors who bring with them an exceptional track record and knowledge of scaling large successful businesses in India, that will be highly valuable in our journey ahead," FirstCry CEO Supam Maheshwari told ET.

FirstCry, which is planning an initial public offering (IPO) next year, has other investors in its portfolio such as Mahindra Retail, TPG, and Premji Invest.

The company is likely to file the draft IPO papers by the end of this year. But before that, it has to ensure that the foreign shareholding is below 51% to comply with the Indian government regulations on FDI laws for ecommerce. Also, SoftBank will have to reduce its stake to below 26% so that it does not come under the classification of a promoter.