FirstCry negotiates with TPG Growth, Premji Invest,ChrystCapital for stake sale

SoftBank-backed FirstCry aims to negotiate with TPG Growth, Premji Invest and ChrysCapital to raise $150-180 million at a valuation of $1.8-2.1 billion. The transaction would double FirstCry’s valuation in less than 24 months. SoftBank Vision Fund had acquired a 40 per cent stake in the company in 2019, valuing it at about $1.1 billion. The company aims to go public in 24-36 months and wants to realign its capitalization table before that.

Since 2011, FirstCry has raised $503 million in seven funding rounds from investors such as Chiratae Ventures, NEA, Vertex Partners and Elevation Capital, Valiant Capital, Ratan Tata, Krish Gopalakrishnan and Softbank, according to Venture Intelligence data. The company is a leader in the omnichannel baby and mother care products segment. It acquired BabyOye from Mahindra Retail in an all-stock deal worth Rs 362 crore in 2016.

FirstCry has more than 300 stores in 125 cities. It expanded its user base to over 4 million and offers 200,000 baby and kids products from 2,000 brands. In FY20, the Pune-based company’s revenue rose by 68 per cent to Rs 897 crore, helping it to it cut net losses by 83 per cent to Rs 191 crore. Its expenses dropped by 26 per cen to Rs 1,088 crore.