Delhivery Close To $3 Bn Valuation With Pre-IPO Funding Led By Fidelity

Logistics unicorn Delhivery is reportedly in talks with a number of global investors, including US-based Fidelity, for funding before its initial public offer (IPO) that would value the startup at around $3 Bn. Two people aware of the matter told ET that Delhivery was valued at a little over $2 Bn after the secondary investment from Steadview Capital in December 2020.

This indicates an almost 50% higher valuation for the SoftBank-backed Delhivery in about three months, if a deal is concluded. The pre-IPO round is said to be in the range of $100-150 Mn, but it could change based on discussions. This would also include a smaller secondary share sale, according to an ET report.

The Gurugram based company is expected to go for an IPO this year at a valuation of $3.2-4 Bn. It is said to be in talks with several bankers such as Kotak Mahindra Capital Company, Morgan Stanley, Citi, ICICISecurities, JP Morgan and Bank of America for the IPO. It has also amended its articles of association (AoA) to include the scope of a public listing as a secondary exit for existing investors.

“This will be the last fund-raise before they go for an IPO. Fidelity is in active discussions with Delhivery and there is interest from other global investors also,” one of the people mentioned earlier was quoted as saying.

Delhivery was founded by Mohit Tandon, Sahil Barua, Bhavesh Manglani, Kapil Bharati and Suraj Saharan in 2011. It provides a full suite of logistics services such as express parcel transportation, LTL and FTL freight, reverse logistics, cross-border, B2B & B2C warehousing and technology services. The company claims to have fulfilled over 850 Mn transactions since its inception and works with over 10,000 direct customers.

According to the last official statement from Delhivery in December 2020, it plans to go public in the “next 12-15 months”. The logistics company has raised $959.6 Mn till date from marquee investors including SoftBank, Fosun International, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Steadview. It entered the unicorn club in 2019 after raising $413 Mn from SoftBank and other investors, at a valuation of $1.6 Bn. The company is now looking to go for an initial public offering (IPO) this year at a valuation of $3.2-4 Bn. It is reportedly planning to raise $800 Mn through the public listing.

In the financial year 2019-20 (FY20), Delhivery managed to cut its loss by 6.8x or INR 1,500 Cr ($206 Mn, at current conversion rate), from INR 1,781 Cr ($244 Mn) in FY19 to INR 284.13 Cr ($39 Mn). The company also increased its revenue by 74%, from INR 1,695 Cr ($232 Mn) to INR 2,986.4 Cr ($410 Mn) in the same time frame.

Besides Delhivery, several other Indian companies and startups are planning an IPO this year. Notable among these are Zomato, InMobi, MobiKwik, Paytm, Ola, Grofers, PolicyBazaar, PhonePe and Lenskart. Gaming major Nazara’s IPO launches today aims to raise up to INR 583 Cr.