Firstcry, the children’s retailer firm, has reportedly received investments around USD 315 million from three private investors. This deal brings the company’s value to over USD 1.9-USD 2.1 billion.

Premji Invest, ChrysCapital and TPG are the three PE firms who have contributed around USD 100 million each for investing into Firstcry. With deals like these, the Softbank-backed company will look into making a debut into stock markets in 18 to 24 months of time.

The deal consists of a USD 13 million primary component from Premji Invest and a USD 300 million secondary transaction, as cited by a regulatory filing.

CEO and co-founder of Firstcry, Supam Maheshwari, has declined to comment on this deal.

Early investors of Firstcry, Vertex Partners, MegaDelta Capital Advisors and Elevation Capital, have apparently sold all their share holdings. The spokespersons from Premji Invest, Elevation Capital, TPG, ChrysCapital, MegaDelta Capital and Vertex Partners did not respond to any comments pertaining to the issue.

Some of the investors of Firstcry include Valiant Capital, Mahindra Group, chairman of Axilor Ventures, Kris Gopalakrishnan and former chairman of Tata Sons, Ratan Tata.

A source with knowledge of the matter has reportedly stated that this investment round will help the company get its investors together for its plan of establishing an IPO in the next two years. Softbank Vision Fund invested USD 400 million in January 2019 for a 40 percent stake in Firstcry, taking the company’s valuation to USD 1.1. billion.

For the record, Firstcry has expanded its business with over 300 stores across 125 cities and over 4 million customers. The company offers over 200,000 children and baby products from around 2000 brands. Kids Stop Press and Hopscotch are their primary competitors in the online segment. The Pune-based company witnessed a revenue raise of over 68% in FY 2020 and has cut losses by around 83%.

Source Credits:

https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/private-equity-firms-invest-315-million-into-firstcry-report-6707411.html