When was the last time you called/visited a restaurant to get takeout? I don’t remember either. Platforms like Zomato and Swiggy have become an integral part of every Indian’s lifestyle, especially over the last year with the pandemic and the rising need for contactless delivery. Backed by this, Zomato has been looking to go public for quite some time, and now, it looks like it’s finally happening.
According to regulatory filings, the company has filed its Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP), kicking off what could be one of the biggest IPOs in the Indian startup culture so far. The company is looking to raise nearly ₹8,250 crore ($1.1Bn dollars). Out of this ₹7,500 crore will be fresh share allotment, while shares worth ₹750 crore will be sold by existing investor Info Edge.
This is set to be a massive day for Zomato, and the company has been preparing for a long time. Several reports have surfaced over the course of the last year, claiming that Zomato is, in fact, going public soon.
The company had a rough start to the financial year in 2020, with food delivery being closed in India to curb the spread of COVID 19. However, as the country started lifting lockdown restrictions, business started booming, as contactless delivery became a much easier option than to go out to restaurants. Thus, the IPO comes at just the right time, with Zomato still riding the lockdown wave of success.
DRHP is the first document that a company that wants to list its shares on a stock exchange, files with Sebi, and is a descriptive analysis of the company looking to go public. It starts the IPO process. Once this is done, Zomato will move on to the next step.
The company has been raising money left and right to build up its war chest, having acquired $250Mn from investors such as Kora Management, Tiger Global, Fidelity, Dragoneer, and Bow Wave just a few months ago. This was on top of the $660Mn that it had raised last year.
Moreover, it has also announced a change in its board a few days ago, claiming that it’s more gender neutral than ever, with 50% of the members being women.
With all these things in place, we expect Zomato to have a smooth IPO.
