NIIF-FirstCry deal falls through; Premji Invest to step in valuing etailer at $2.7-3 billion

Bengaluru: India’s sovereign wealth fund National Investment and Infrastructure Fund’s proposed investment in FirstCry as part of a broader funding round of $240 million, has fallen through, sources told ET. Existing investor Premji Invest will step in to buy the stake which NIIF was on course to purchase, these sources said.

FirstCry’s funding round led by NIIF was approved by the Competition Commission of India(CCI) in February.

Interestingly, the secondary share sale will take place at a higher valuation of around $2-7-$3 billion, people briefed on the matter said. “SoftBank was among the biggest sellers in this secondary round but the deal has fallen through now… FirstCry is being valued at around $2.7-3 billion, higher than what NIIF was pricing the deal at..” one of the sources mentioned above added.

The company’s parent, Brainbees Solutions, was valued at more than $2 billion earlier. SoftBank is its single largest shareholder, with around 30% stake in it.

When contacted, FirstCry’s founder Supan Maheshwari declined to comment on the matter.

Chiratae Ventures and Newquest Capital Partners are also selling parts of their holding in the company as part of this secondary share sale. SoftBank will still own around 30% in FirstCry’s parent Brainbees Solutions post the latest financing round.

In a secondary share sale, existing investors sell their stake to other investors and the money doesn’t go to company coffers.

The development comes at a time when FirstCry has also begun work to go public later this year. It appointed Kotak Mahindra Capital and Morgan Stanley for its IPO and is in discussions with other bankers too, ET reported on February 18.

FirstCry had conducted a $315-million secondary share sale in March last year.

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