Swiggy confidentially files for $1.25Bn IPO

Swiggy, the second major player within India’s duopolised food delivery market, has confidentially filed for a $1.25Bn IPO. The issue includes 450 million fresh shares and a $800-million offer-for sale by existing shareholders. The IPO, which has been in the news and making for several years now, has been filed via the confidential route, essentially meaning that Swiggy is not certain of a public market debut and may or may not eventually even list on public bourses.

The company also plans to raise around ₹750 crore from anchor investors ahead of its IPO which is slated for earlier this year, past regulatory filings had showed.

In a confidential filing route, details related to the business will not be released to the public, unlike the normal route when the entire draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) is publicly available as soon as it is filed with the market regulator. While global markets have had the confidential filing route for a while now, SEBI only recently introduced this in November of 2022. Noted companies which have used this route but never really listed, include Tata Play Fiber, Oyo, among others.

In a regular filing, the approval is valid for 12 months after SEBI gives it final observations. In confidential filing, this is valid for 18 months from the date of SEBI observations on the confidential draft prospectus.

According to the most recently available data, Swiggy recorded a $207Mn loss for the nine months to December 2023. That loss was on a revenue of $1.02Bn during the same period, compared with fiscal year 2022-23 revenue of $1.05 billion, as reported earlier.

In comparison, the already listed Zomato — Swiggy’s arch rival — has been reporting profit for three consecutive quarters, with its quick commerce vertical BlinkIt delivering major financial gains. Zomato has off late seen a rally of sorts in its share prices, with the company now valued at nearly $20Bn as per its latest stock price.

The IPO fiing also comes on the back of a valuation uptick by Invesco, wherien the US based fund manager did an internal correction to the fair value of the Bengaluru-based company. Invesco valued Swiggy at $7.85 billion (about ₹65,000 crore), reflecting a remarkable uptick from the previous valuation of $5.5 billion as of July 31, 2023.