Bigbasket eyes IPO in 2025
bigbasket hopes to become profitable in the next 6-8 months, says Menon.
Online grocer bigbasket is targeting an initial public offering (IPO) of its shares in 2025, CEO and Cofounder Hari Menon said.
“Probably 2025 is the date. We are leaving this to the Tatas, but I think we are gunning for 2025,” Mr. Menon told businessline on the sidelines of an event to unveil a frozen food line in collaboration with celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor. Next year is set to be busy for the Tatas, with group holding firm Tata Sons and Tata Capital set to introduce IPOs having been classified as uppertier NBFCs, as per Reserve Bank of India guidelines.
The grocery platform is expected to end FY24 with revenue in the region of $1.5 billion and hopes to become profitable in the next 68 months, Mr. Menon said.
He said the capital requirements were much lower than what they had been earlier. “We don’t need as much money as we needed five years ago .. it has come down quite a bit,” he said, adding the business still required capital. He indicated the IPO would comprise fresh and a secondary issuance. In 2021, Tata Digital acquired more than 64% of its stake with investors such as Alibaba and Actis exiting. There are PE firms such as
U.K.’s CDC Group and Silicon Valley’s Bessemer Venture Partners that hold minority stakes in it.
Profitability factor
Of bigbasket’s three business lines — bb daily, the slotted business and bb now — the first two are already stable and profitable, while the third bb now, the quick commerce vertical, is expected to be profitable in the next sixeight months.
(The writer is with The Hindu businessline)