One of the biggest online platforms in India named Indiamart.com will soon raise the company’s valuation to as much as Rs 600 crore through a proposed initial public offering (IPO).
The company will soon file draft papers for its initial share sale which is expected to take place next month. According to the reports, investment banks ICICI Securities, Edelweiss Financial Services and a foreign investment bank are a group of advisors for the company in the matter of the initial share sale.
“Indiamart is working on an IPO that could see it raise around ₹500-600 crore through a mix of primary and secondary share sale. Some of the investors of the company could sell part of their stakes. The final details of these are yet to be formalized,” stated a source.
However, Dinesh Agarwal who is the CEO of Indiamart.com has refused to give any comments on the IPO plans for his company. Emails sent to ICICI Securities and Edelweiss were also not responded.
Indiamart.com is India’s largest online marketplace that assists manufacturers, suppliers & exporters to trade with each other at a common, reliable platform. The primary operation of the company is to connect global buyers with suppliers. Founded in 1996, the online channel focuses on providing a platform to Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs), large enterprises as well as individuals. By 1999, the Internet sector was experiencing a boom. As the company grew bigger, the founder raised Rs.1.6 crore from friends, family, employees and through a bank loan to build IndiaMart’s own campus.
Previously in 2016, Indiamart raised an undisclosed amount in Series C funding carried forward by Amadeus Capital. Other participants of that round included Westbridge, Quona Capital and existing investor Intel Capital.
As per the company’s official website, Indiamart fulfills the needs of more than 58 million buyers, with over 4.6 million suppliers selling over 65 million products. The employee base of the company is more than 3,500 across 80 offices in the country.
Apart from Indiamart, other such companies that have gone public lately are e-commerce company Infibeam Incorporation Ltd and antivirus software maker Quick Heal Technologies Ltd backed by Sequoia Capital.