Story continues below Advertisement Remove AdSources told Moneycontrol that SEBI had sought 25 KPIs of which Firstcry provided only 5-6.
The Pune-based company is however preparing to provide SEBI the latest financials and KPIs from December, sources added.
SEBI and FirstCry have been engaging with each other for almost a month discussing FirstCry's KPIs, people in the know told Moneycontrol.
The updates mean that FirstCry's listing is delayed by a few months and is now expected only in July-August, sources told Moneycontrol.
FirstCry is however expected to price its IPO at a valuation of $3.5-3.75 billion.
Supam Maheshwari, Firstcry MD and CEO
Firstcry will withdraw its current set of IPO papers in the coming days and refile them around the same time with the Security and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) by next week with an updated list of key performance indicators (KPIs), people aware of the developments told Moneycontrol.
Earlier in the day, Reuters, citing sources, reported that FirstCry’s parent BrainBees is set to withdraw its papers for an up to $500 million IPO after India's markets regulator, SEBI, raised questions about the company’s key metrics disclosed to investors.
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Sources told Moneycontrol that SEBI had sought 25 KPIs of which Firstcry provided only 5-6. The Pune-based company is however preparing to provide SEBI the latest financials and KPIs from December, sources added.
FirstCry's KPIs include its average order value, annual transacting customers and number of orders.
Back in December 2023, the company had filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) based on September's financials. SEBI and FirstCry have been engaging with each other for almost a month discussing FirstCry's KPIs, people in the know told Moneycontrol.
Moneycontrol has reached out to FirstCry and will update story if he responds.
The updates mean that FirstCry's listing is delayed by a few months and is now expected only in July-August, sources told Moneycontrol.
This comes at a time when SEBI has stepped up scrutiny of new-age internet companies after firms like Paytm and others failed to deliver returns to retail investors in the past when the hit the public markets.
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SEBI introduced this rule in 2022, heightening scrutiny of companies looking to list, after wide-spread criticism on the seemingly lax oversight over large loss-making companies which have commanded lofty valuations.
Another source told Moneycontrol that SEBI is taking a closer look at companies that are not promoter led and FirstCry happens to fall in that category.
Founder offloads shares
In January this year, Moneycontrol reported that Supam Maheshwari, founder and managing director of FirstCry offloaded 6.2 million shares in the company in the 10 days prior to filing for an IPO. At Rs 487.44 each, the highest price at which a secondary share sale was executed in December, Maheshwari's offloaded shareholding would be worth more than Rs 300 crore.
Maheshwari earlier held 7.46 percent stake in the company and after the transactions, his holding reduced to 5.95 percent.
The DRHP had also shown that Maheshwari has sold 9.34 million shares during six months before the date of filing of the DRHP. At the price of Rs 487.44 apiece, this share transfer would be worth over Rs 455 crore.
The founder group and SoftBank had sold shares to incoming investors at a valuation of Rs 23,000 crore (around $2.8 billion). FirstCry is however expected to price its IPO at a valuation of $3.5-3.75 billion.
