FirstCry parent raises nearly $225M from anchor investors ahead of IPO

Brainbees Solution, the parent of multi-channel retail platform for maternity and baby products, FirstCry, has raised Rs 1,885.8 crore (approximately $224.48 million) ahead of its Rs 4,194-crore public offering.

The pre-IPO funding was raised from 71 anchor investors at an upper share price band of Rs 465 per equity share (including a premium of Rs 463 per share) with a face value of Rs 2 per share, ahead of its public offering.  

The company, which is set to open for subscription as part of its initial public offering (IPO) on August 6, set its price band in the range of Rs 440 to Rs 465 per equity share. 

Participating investors in the anchor round include SBI Mutual Fund, ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund, HDFC Mutual Fund, Kotak Mahindra Mutual Fund, Government of Singapore, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Goldman Sachs Funds, SBI Life Insurance, Fidelity Funds, Nordea Asset Management, Max Life Insurance Company Limited, Nomura Funds, Norges Bank, PSP, Carmignac, and others, according to the company’s intimation letter to the bourses. 

The anchor investors were allocated a total of 4.05 crore equity shares, of which nearly 37.38% equity shares were awarded to eight domestic mutual funds. 

The IPO consists of a fresh issue of Rs 1,666 crore and an offer for sale (OFS) of 5.43 crore equity shares by existing stakeholders in the company. SoftBank, the largest shareholder in Brainbees, will sell 2.03 crore equity shares while Mahindra & Mahindra will sell 28.06 lakh equity shares in the company. 

Founder and CEO Supam Maheshwari will not be selling any equity stake in the company as part of the IPO. 

Founded in 2010, the company will utilise the proceeds from the fresh issue of shares to set up modern stores under the BabyHug brand as well as set up warehousing and infrastructure across India and Saudi Arabia. Part of the capital will also be used for investment into its house of brands entity, Globalbees Brands Private Limited. 

Kotak Mahindra Capital Company Limited, Morgan Stanley India Company Private Limited, BofA Securities India Limited, JM Financial Limited, and Avendus Capital Private Limited are the book-running lead managers to the offer.