FirstCry's parent firm Brainbees Solutions gets Sebi's go ahead to float IPO

Brainbees Solutions Ltd, the parent firm of online e-commerce platform FirstCry, has received Sebi's approval to raise funds through an initial public offering (IPO), an update with the markets regulator showed on Monday.

Apart from this, three more companies -- SaaS platform Unicommerce eSolutions, Maharashtra-based Gala Precision Engineering and Interarch Building Products -- obtained the regulator's nod to float the initial share sale.

These companies -- who filed their preliminary IPO papers with Sebi between January and May 2024 -- obtained the regulator's observations during June 25-28, according to the update.

In Sebi's parlance, obtaining its observations means its approval to float the public issue.

According to the fresh draft red herring prospectus (DRHP), Pune-based Brainbees Solutions' proposed IPO is a combination of a fresh issue of equity shares, aggregating up to Rs 1,816 crore and an offer for sale (OFS) of up to 5.44 crore equity shares by existing shareholders.

Under the OFS, SVF Frog, a Cayman Islands-registered entity of Softbank, will sell 2.03 crore equity shares of Brainbees Solutions Ltd, and automaker Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) will offload 28.06 lakh shares of the company.

Currently, Softbank holds a 25.55 per cent stake in Brainbees Solutions, and M&M owns a 10.98 per cent stake in the multi-brand retailing platform.

Apart from Softbank and M&M, other entities selling shares in the OFS are PI Opportunities Fund, TPG, NewQuest Asia Investments, Apricot Investments, Valiant Mauritius, TIMF Holdings, Think India Opportunities Fund and Schroders Capital.

Brainbees Solutions re-filed preliminary papers with Sebi in May after the company was directed by the regulator to re-file the draft papers, citing insufficient disclosure of key performance indicators (KPIs), market sources had said.

The company's key performance indicators include its number of orders, average order value and annual transacting customers.

Unicommerce's issue is entirely an offer for sale (OFS) aggregating up to 2.98 crore equity shares by the selling shareholders.

Under the OFS, SB Investment Holdings (UK) Ltd, an affiliate of Japan's SoftBank, will offload 1.61 crore shares, promoter AceVector Limited (formerly known as Snapdeal Limited) will sell up to 1.14 crore shares, and B2 Capital Partners will be selling up to 22 lakh shares.

Since the IPO is completely an OFS, the entire proceeds will go to the selling shareholders.

Shares of these four companies will be listed on the BSE and NSE.