PremjiInvest backed firm eyes IPO, to raise ₹1,000 cr

Billionaire Azim Premji’s investment arm Premji Invest-backed Financial Software and Systems Pvt Ltd has started working on an initial public offering (IPO) that could see the company raise up to ₹1,000 crore, two people aware of the development said.

FSS powers the retail payments initiatives of banks, financial institutions, processors, merchants, governments and regulatory bodies across the globe. The company’s end to end payments suite powers retail delivery channels such as ATMs, PoS, Cards, Mobile and Internet.

Headquartered in Chennai, FSS has a presence in Africa, Australia, Canada, Europe, Middle East, Singapore and the US.

“The company has revived its plans to go public and they have started working on the draft IPO prospectus, which is expected to be filed by the next quarter. Investment banks Citi and ICICI Securities are working on the share sale. The IPO is expected to hit the market before end of the financial year,” said one of the two people cited above, requesting anonymity as he is not authorised to speak with the media.

According to the second person cited above, the IPO will be a mix of both primary and secondary share sale. He too requested anonymity.

“They are looking to raise up to ₹1,000 crore. Large part of the IPO is likely to be a secondary share sale by existing private equity investors of the company, some of which have been around for a long time now,” he said.

Apart from Premji Invest, FSS counts New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and Jacob Ballas as its investors.

A spokesperson for FSS said the company has no comments to offer at the moment. Citi and Premji Invest declined to comment. Emails sent on Tuesday to Jacob Ballas and ICICI Securities did not elicit any response.

In October 2014, FSS raised around ₹350 crore from Premji Invest. NEA and Jacob Ballas picked up stake in the company in 2009.

FSS employs over 2,000 people and provides payment systems and services to over 100 clients worldwide, including some of the world’s largest financial institutions and payment processors.