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SoftBank-backed logistics unicorn Delhivery to raise USD 500 million from public market

Gurugram-based logistics and supply chain startup Delhivery has joined the league of over a dozen Indian companies that plan to go public by early 2022. The ten-year-old company is looking to raise up to USD 500 million from the public market by listing its shares on Indian stock exchange at the latest by March 2022, Sahil Barua, co-founder of Delhivery, told local media Economic Times (ET).

“The company is still working out details of the issue, including its size. However, given that we already have substantial cash on our balance sheet, we expect it to be a primary issue in the USD 400–500 million range,” Barua told ET.

In January this year, the company set up a board sub-committee to take care of its initial public offering (IPO) and mergers and acquisitions.

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Delhivery recently raised USD 277 million in a Series H round led by Fidelity Management, with participation from Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC, Abu Dhabi’s Chimera, and UK’s Baillie Gifford. The company also counts VC funds like SoftBank, Tiger Global, Times Internet, The Carlyle Group, and Steadview Capital among its investors. This round of funding valued the company at USD 3 billion.

Delhivery has become the third company from SoftBank’s Indian portfolio to aim for a public listing after insurtech company PolicyBazaar, and fintech behemoth Paytm.

Started in 2011 as a food delivery company, Delhivery eventually expanded its delivery service to all e-commerce companies, including Flipkart, Snapdeal, and Amazon. However, over the years, many e-commerce companies started handling logistics and supply chains on their own. With the market going through a major change, Delhivery got into B2B delivery, cross-border logistics, warehousing services, and reverse logistics offerings to B2B and B2C brands.

Sandeep Barasia, managing director and chief business officer of Delhivery, told ET that the company raked in over INR 3,700 crore (USD 507 million) in revenue in 2020-21.

The company plans to utilize the funding from the IPO to strengthen its technology platforms and push its cross-border operations to newer markets, including going deeper in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

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