MobiKwik turns unicorn ahead of initial public offering

IPO-bound fintech firm Mobikwik became unicorn post a recent secondary ESOP sale round led by former Blackstone India head Mr. Mathew Cyriac.

MobiKwik employees exercised their ESOPs (Employee stock ownership) in the latest opened window by trading part of their shares in a secondary sale.

“The secondary round was headed by ex-Blackstone India Head, Mr. Mathew Cyriac, who topped up his standing at almost twice of his previous price,” the sources stated.

“The deal in the round took place at an enterprise valuation of ~US$ 1 billion,” the sources stated.

The previous valuation shared by Mobikwik was US$ 720 in May 2021, after US$ 20 million stake acquisition by UAE's sovereign wealth fund Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.

The company, under its ESOP 2014 Scheme, had set aside 4.5 million equity shares for generating a pool of ESOPs for the benefit of the eligible employees.

MobiKwik Chairperson, co-founder and COO Mrs. Upasana Taku stated that the number of equity shares that would develop from the full exercise of options granted implies 7% of the fully diluted outstanding shares.

The company has obtained markets regulator Sebi's approval to open an initial public offering, through which it intends to raise up to Rs. 1,900 crore (US$ 215.61 million).

The Gurgaon-based firm had filed the Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) for the initial public offering (IPO) with Sebi in July.

From the IPO, the company plans to offer shares aggregating to Rs. 1,900 crore (US$ 215.61 million). Out of the total, Rs. 1,500 crore (US$ 198.64 million) will be gained through fresh issue of shares, while stocks worth Rs. 400 crore (US$ 52.96 million) will be divested through the offer-for-sale (OFS) route by existing shareholders.

According to the draft paper, Mobikwik had >101.37 million registered users and >3.44 million online, offline and biller merchant partners as of March 31, 2021.

The sources informed that MobiKwik is eyeballing IPO valuation between US$ 1.5 billion to US$ 1.7 billion, which is likely to strike the market before Diwali.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.