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Bloomberg
Infibeam Incorporation Ltd. plans to raise as much as 5.4 billion rupees ($81 million) in an initial public offering as it becomes the first of India’s high-profile online retailers to proceed to a share sale.
The company is offering 12.5 million shares in a book build at 360 rupees to 432 rupees apiece. Promoters and investors hold 42.7 million shares with the whole company valued at less than $400 million, the Ahmedabad-based company said.
Infibeam’s IPO could be a barometer for investor interest in Indian online retail, where operators including Flipkart Online Services Pvt., Snapdeal and Paytm Mobile Solutions Pvt. have all been valued at more than $1 billion but haven’t announced plans to go public. Those valuations have been spurred by surging smartphone penetration in India as millions access the Internet for the first time through their mobile devices. In its draft prospectus, Infibeam said it incurred losses of about $1.4 million in the year ended March 2015. Between April and September 2015, however, it booked a profit of less than $1 million.
Online retailers are facing pressure from investors as they set out on further funding rounds, with venture capital firms questioning their discounting strategy and spending. Flipkart, India’s largest online retailer, was valued at $15 billion during its last fundraising in 2015.
Infibeam plans to use the IPO proceeds to set up data centers and logistics infrastructure.
Infibeam is an Indian internet and e-commerce conglomerate involved in online retailing, e-commerce software and internet services. The company is headquartered in Ahmedabad, India. It is an online retailer for books, electronics, and automobiles in India. Started in 2007, the company has offices in Ahmedabad, Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore, and has a total of 1300 employees.
Infibeam launched an e-book reader, Infibeam Pi, its successor Pi2, and a media device, Infibeam Phi. Infibeam became India’s first E-commerce company to file an IPO, in July 2015.
In August 2013, Infibeam launched the e-commerce marketplace Dhamaal.com in association with CCAvenues. Dhamaal has a selection of 15 million products. The website is built on Buildabazaar platform, and is also extended as a co-branded marketplace with 50 Indian banks.