Two SoftBank-backed companies—Brainbees Solutions Ltd, the parent of baby products retailer FirstCry, and e-commerce SaaS provider Unicommerce eSolutions—had a strong stock market debut on Tuesday.
FirstCry, a major player in India’s baby and kids’ products market, listed at Rs 651 on the National Stock Exchange, marking a 40% premium over its IPO price of Rs 549 per share. The stock peaked at Rs 707.70 before closing at Rs 673.50, giving the company a market capitalization of Rs 34,967 crore ($4.16 billion).
Unicommerce, meanwhile, debuted with a notable 117.6% premium, listing at Rs 235 against an issue price of Rs 108. The shares reached a high of Rs 256 before ending at Rs 211.50 due to profit-taking, valuing the company at Rs 2,166.48 crore ($258 million).
FirstCry offers a wide range of kid’s products, including diapers, feeding and nursing items, skin and health care products, toys, clothing, footwear, and fashion accessories. As of March 2023, the company had 8.8 million annual transacting customers. Alongside SoftBank, other notable investors include US private equity firm TPG and Premjilnvest, the investment arm of Wipro’s Azim Premji.
The company secured regulatory approval for its IPO last month after resubmitting its initial documents. It raised Rs 1,666 crore by issuing new shares, while SoftBank, TPG, Premjilnvest, and Indian PE firm ChrysCapital collectively sold stakes valued at approximately Rs 2,528 crore.
Unicommerce’s parent company is AceVector Ltd, formerly known as Snapdeal Ltd, the e-commerce platform founded by Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal.
Snapdeal acquired a majority stake in Unicommerce in 2015 through a cash-and-stock deal. In 2018, Snapdeal attempted to sell Unicommerce to Infibeam, but the deal fell through due to unmet conditions within the agreed timeframe.
SoftBank entered Unicommerce’s cap table in November 2021 with an investment of approximately Rs 111.6 crore. Although SoftBank has previously reduced its stake, it retains about 29.23% following the pre-IPO transaction. This stake could be halved post-IPO. According to VCCircle, SoftBank achieved benchmark returns from its partial exit in Unicommerce earlier this month.
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