ZOMATO’S IPO BID TO SUCCESS

Where the economy has been majorly affected by the pandemic, few sectors have found their silver lining. The online services sector has been thriving for the past financial year, and companies such as Swiggy, Zomato, Amazon, and Flipkart have seen immense growth in their revenues as more and more people adapt to the new normal. A popular Indian food discovery and delivery service provider, Zomato, taking the opportunity of the ongoing situation has managed to cook up their pots and has filed for an Initial Public Offering (IPO) yesterday (28th April, ‘21). Being one of the market leaders in the food delivery sector, owing to the pandemic, the gross revenue and orders of the company rose to Rs. 2981 crores in Oct-Dec, 2020 quarter, witnessing a large inflow of new customers.

Though initially a private company, through a special resolution passed earlier this month, Zomato underwent a corporate restructuring and amended their MOA (Memorandum of Association)  to become a Public Limited Company, renaming itself as ‘Zomato Limited’.

Backed by billionaire Jack Ma’s Ant Group and Uber, Zomato plans to raise $1.1-billion via an IPO which would be the biggest stock-market listing this year. As reported by Moneycontrol, the company has filed an initial Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) with market regulator SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India).

The initial prospectus lays out the plan to raise $1.01 billion through a fresh issue of equity shares, whereas the remaining $101.2 million will be offered for sale by existing investor InfoEdge India. Currently valued at $5.4 billion, one of India’s successful unicorns, plans to utilize the influx of funds towards organic and inorganic growth initiatives as well as for general corporate purposes.

With BofA Securities India Limited and Citigroup Global Markets India Pvt. Ltd. appointed as the merchant bankers for the issue, and Kotak Mahindra Capital Company Limited, Morgan Stanley India Company Pvt. Ltd. and Credit Suisse Securities (India) Pvt. Ltd. as their book running lead managers, the company shall receive the nod for the IPO launch from SEBI within two weeks after a review. Founders, Deepinder Goyal and Pankaj Chaddah who began this as a weekend project, turned it into one of the leading unicorns in India, with an established presence in 23 other countries. 

Worried about the pandemic taking over your food cravings? Download the Zomato app from Playstore or iOS today, and gorge on your delicious favourites delivered right to your homes safely. Keeping the crippling situation in mind, Zomato has launched a new feature which allows users to mark orders as Covid Emergency orders, which receive priority delivery. Remember to use it with caution, because all of us are in this crisis together.