Indian food delivery unicorn Zomato eyes raising $1.3b in IPO

Indian food delivery unicorn Zomato has said it is looking to raise up to 93.7 billion rupees (US$1.3 billion) from its initial public offering (IPO) on the Indian stock exchange next week.

The IPO will open on July 14 and close on July 16. The company will offer its share in a price band of 72 rupees to 76 rupees (US$0.96 to US$1.02) apiece.

Zomato is seeking a post-IPO valuation of 643.6 billion rupees (US$8.6 billion), and the company expects to have a total of about US$2 billion in the bank following its listing on the stock exchange.

Zomato founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal / Photo credit: Zomato.

Zomato, which competes with food delivery platforms such as Swiggy in India, said that its business has recovered from the negative impact of the Covid-19 outbreak last year.

Separately, the company in its annual financial report revealed that its revenue had shrunk 23% to US$283 million in the FY2021. The firm, however, reduced its losses to US$110 million, which is 66% less than the same period a year ago, reported TechCrunch.

The food delivery startup made its debuted in 2008 as Foodiebay. Since then, the company has established almost a Pan-India coverage. It has also expanded to markets outside India, including the US, UAE, Australia, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia.

See also: Sizing up Zomato, India’s food delivery app

Back in January 2020, Zomato acquired the India business of its competitor Uber Eats for US$206 million. Zomato is also set to invest US$100 million in the online grocery platform Grofers, which may indicate its plans for product diversification.

Currency converted from Indian rupee to US dollar: US$1 = 74.81 rupees.