India’s sovereign overflow store – National Investment and Infrastructure Fund Limited(NIIF) has made its initial bet on the nation’s web economy with electronic business firm FirstCry, people aware of the matter said. The motivating driver behind NIIF’s $240 million discretionary sponsoring round was FirstCry’s $100 million stock acquisition. Read More Business News on our website.
People briefed on the situation said that Premji Invest, the existing investor in the Pune-based company, has also purchased additional shares in the new round, where SoftBank has sold the most shares.
Chiratae Ventures and Newquest Capital Partners have likewise sold bits of their stakes in the business. After this financing, SoftBank will still own about 30% of FirstCry’s parent company, Brainbees Arrangements, according to people who were informed about the situation.
While the greater part of the discretionary support has come from NIIF and Premji, other new monetary benefactors have also come on board in this round yet their names are not known as of now. In a secondary transaction, new investors purchase shares from existing investors; the money does not enter the company’s bank account.
In May of the previous year, NIIF engaged in conversation with SoftBank regarding an interest in FirstCry. The understanding has likewise gotten endorsement from the Opposition Commission of India (CCI).
FirstCry held an optional offer deal for $315 million in the spring of last year. The most recent acquisition takes the total amount of investor exits from the previous year to $555 million. This time, SoftBank sold between 50 and 60 percent of the shares offered in the transaction, and other participants withdrew somewhat as well. One source with knowledge of the matter said that FirstCry “has emerged as one of only a few extraordinary firms to have gone through with optional exchanges at this size from the past year.”
The Master Fund, Fund of Funds, and Strategic Opportunities Fund of NIIF oversee capital commitments totaling over $4.5 billion. The FirstCry investment is a component of NIIF’s strategy to increase investments in the digital economy, as few reported last year. “They (NIIF) want to invest more and have a wider exposure,” an additional source stated.
In 2015, the logistics division of FirstCry was spun off as Xpresbees. In the final stages of closing a $300 million funding round, some revealed last month that the operations unit is on track to become a unicorn. Additionally, FirstCry is a significant shareholder in the Thrasio-like venture Global Bees, which was recently given funding of $110 million and is now valued at $1.1 billion.
According to three insiders who spoke with reporters, FirstCry is in discussions with a group of sovereign funds to assist some of its shareholders in selling a stake in the business for nearly $3 billion. Despite the fact that discussions are still in their infancy, the Pune startup is preparing to use the funding as a pre-IPO round.
According to people who are familiar with the situation, the largest shareholder of the omnichannel retailer of mother and baby products, SoftBank, led by Masayoshi Son, is likely to sell some of its 29% stake if the deal goes through.