Delhivery eyes $500 million IPO in 6-8 months

Delhivery is the third SoftBank-backed startup in the country, after PolicyBazaar and Paytm, to begin working towards an IPO

Indian e-commerce logistics firm Delhivery is gearing up to go public in the next six to eight months with the intention of raising up to $500 million (Rs 3,640 crore) from its initial public offering (IPO), the company’s co-founder and chief executive has said.

Barring the chances of a severe third Covid-19 wave pressuring market sentiment, Delhivery was unlikely to push its IPO timeline back, Delhivery CEO Sahil Barua told The Economic Times in an interview.

“The company is still working out details of the issue, including its size. However, given that we already have substantial cash on our balance sheet, we expect it to be a primary issue in the $400-500 million range,” Barua told the publication. “Since we are an Indian company and have a substantial part of our business here, we will list locally.”

Delhivery raised $277 million (Rs 2,017 crore) just last week in a funding round that valued the company at $3 billion (Rs 21,840 crore), getting Fidelity Management and Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC on board its investor list.

Delhivery’s first announcement of a definite timeline comes at a time when internet companies are making a beeline to go public and cash in on a resilient stock market that has come out of Covid-19-induced lows and scaled all-time highs. Air ticketing company EasyTrip Planners got the ball rolling earlier in the year, while the likes of Zomato and PayTM are also readying their public offerings.

E-commerce giant Flipkart, on the other hand, is eyeing a listing on the US stock market.

Delhivery is also the third SoftBank-backed startup in the country, after PolicyBazaar and Paytm, to begin working towards an IPO in the near term. Delhivery’s managing director and Chief Business Officer, Sandeep Barasia, told ET that the firm had brought in revenues in excess of Rs 3,700 crore in 2020-21, which is higher than competitor Blue Dart’s registered unaudited revenues of around Rs 3,280 crore. Barasia also said he was confident the company would grow annually by 50-55% in the near future.

Barua said the company had about $550 million (Rs 4,004.5 crore) on its balance sheet, which the company is likely to use alongside the IPO proceeds to invest in working capital, assets to grow its technology offerings to smaller businesses and more acquisitions. The company also plans to scale its business across borders and spread deeper into countries like Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.