Snapdeal Files for IPO, Targets to Raise Rs. 1,250 Crore Through Fresh Issue of Shares

E-commerce platform Snapdeal on Tuesday filed papers with the market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for an Initial Public Offering (IPO) through which it plans to raise Rs.1,250 crore.

According to Draft Red Herring Prospectus, the IPO consists of a fresh issue of shares worth Rs. 1,250 crore and an offer of sale of 308 lakh shares.

"The Offer has been authorised by our Board pursuant to resolution passed on November 28, 2021 and the Fresh Issue has been authorised by our Shareholders pursuant to a resolution passed on December 5, 2021," Snapdeal noted in the Draft Red Herring Prospectus.

"We were India's largest pure-play value e-Commerce platform, in terms of revenue for the Financial Year 2020. Further, with over 200 million app installations on Google Play Store, we are the most installed pure-play value e-Commerce application and one of the top four online lifestyle shopping destinations in terms of total app installations in India, as of August 31, 2021," Snapdeal claimed in the draft paper.

Snapdeal was founded in 2007 by Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal. It started as a coupon booklet business, which was transformed into an online deals platform in 2010 and an online e-commerce marketplace in 2012.

"Our Company is a professionally managed company and does not have an identifiable promoter in terms of the SEBI ICDR Regulations and the Companies Act," Snapdeal said.

Japan's SoftBank is now the biggest shareholder in New Delhi-headquartered Snapdeal.

Snapdeal's IPO comes after the market debut of several tech giants including One97 Communications, which runs Paytm and FSN e-commerce Ventures, which operates Nykaa.

Snapdeal's focus business now is on value lifestyle retail. The market size of value lifestyle retail is expected to grow from $88 billion (roughly Rs. 6,63,770 crore) in the financial year 2021 to $175 billion (roughly Rs. 13,20,000 crore) by the financial year 2026, at a CAGR of approximately 15 percent. The sizable presence of online value shoppers is expected to grow at an increasing rate, as the Indian e-Commerce shopper base is projected to grow to 350 million people by financial year 2026 as compared to 140-160 million users in financial year 2021, Snapdeal noted in the draft documents filed with SEBI.

India's Value e-Commerce market was worth $7.4 billion (roughly Rs. 55,800 crore) in the financial year 2021, and projected to reach approximately $39.4 billion (roughly Rs. 2,97,100 crore) by the financial year 2026. This growth will be spearheaded by "emerging shoppers" from the mid-income segment of Indian Tier 2+ cities, it said.