FirstCry DRHP: A Deep Dive Into The Shareholding Pattern & People At The Helm

Brainbees Solutions Limited, the parent entity of kids-focused ecommerce unicorn FirstCry, has finally filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with the capital markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for raising INR 1,816 Cr through fresh issues of shares.

The initial public offering (IPO) also comprises an offer-for-sale (OFS) complement which will allow the startup’s investors to sell up to 5.4 Cr equity shares. SoftBank alone is shipping off around 2 Cr shares as part of the OFS, with many other major shareholders selling significant stakes as part of the OFS.

FirstCry is also looking to raise INR 363.2 Cr via a pre-IPO placement, the DRPH noted.

The 577-page draft document sheds light on how the entity, which has built three unicorns interacts with one another and delves deep into its business model. FirstCry’s draft papers also inform the company’s shareholding pattern and the people leading the ecommerce behemoth.

The Top Shareholders At FirstCry

Japanese investment giant SoftBank is the biggest shareholder in FirstCry’s parent company, owning around 12.41 Cr equity shares (on a fully diluted basis) or about 25.55% of the total equity capital, according to the DRHP. SoftBank owns the stake via the SoftBank Vision Fund’s Cayman Islands-based entity, SVF Frog (Cayman) Limited.

Mahindra & Mahindra and Premji Invest are the second and third largest stakeholders in Brainbees Solutions, owning 10.98% and 10.36% stake, respectively. While Mahindra & Mahindra invested directly in FirstCry, Premji Invest did so via its PI Opportunities I and II funds.

The company’s ESOP trust, the Brainbees ESOP Trust, is the fourth largest stakeholder in the ecommerce unicorn. Alongside the Brainbees Employee Welfare Trust, the company’s employee-focused entities own more than 11% of the total equity capital on a fully diluted basis.

Supam Maheshwari, the cofounder and CEO of FirstCry, is the fifth largest stakeholder in the parent entity he set up. Maheshwari owns a 5.95% stake, which translates to nearly 2.9 Cr fully diluted shares.

Incidentally, more than 100 different stakeholders, including the likes of Ratan Tata, cumulatively own around 9.5% stake in the FirstCry parent.

Who’s Who At FirstCry

Supam Maheshwari, who set up Brainbees Solutions in August 2010, is the company’s MD and CEO. He holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Delhi College of Engineering and a post-graduate diploma in management from IIM Ahmedabad. 

Before setting up the FirstCry parent, he set up business learning solutions provider Brainvisa Technologies in 2000, which he left in 2009 as its president. Maheshwari also brought along Sanket Hattimattur and Prashant Jadhav from Brainvisa, who joined as cofounders. Hattimattur is currently serving as executive director and chief of staff, while Jadhav is currently the CTO.

Working alongside Jadhav in the company’s C-suite is Gautam Sharma, the group CFO, an associate member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) and a fellow member of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI). Other key managerial personnel (KMP) include CHRO Manjula Rao and company secretary Neelam Jethani.

The DRHP also mentioned Nitin Agarwal, who is leading Globalbees as CEO, and Amitava Saha, also a cofounder and major stakeholder at FirstCry, serving as XpressBees CEO. The two subsidiaries are unicorns in their own right.

Brainbees Solutions also reported key changes to its board of directors right before filing its draft documents. On December 26, Amitava Saha, Simit Batra, Puneet Renjhen, Atul Gupta, Vikas Agnihotri and Amit Gupta resigned from their positions as non-executive directors. While Saha had been serving on the board for a while, Batra and Renjhen were appointed only months ago.

Besides this, the company reported having 3,242 full-time employees.

Following the filing of the DRHP, all eyes would now be on SEBI’s approval. FirstCry, which had deferred its IPO in 2022, citing poor market conditions, will now sit among the most-awaited public listings next year.