Mumbai-based API Holdings had filed its draft IPO papers in November to raise ₹6,250 crore through a sale of primary shares. Existing shareholders aren’t planning to sell shares.
Sebi’s nod for PharmEasy’s parent’s IPO comes at a time when new-age companies are seeing a steady drop in their share prices after having gone public last year. On Monday, shares of Paytm, Nykaa, Policybazaar and CarTrade touched new lows during trading hours. The share price of One97 Communications, the parent of Paytm, has now fallen more than 60% from its high, while Nykaa is down 42% from its high.
For PharmEasy, it is still not clear if its IPO will happen by March or will it spill over to the next financial year. ET reported on February 18, that PharmEasy may have to reconsider the valuation for its IPO owing to the broader corrections in markets globally and in India. Startups are also starting to see correction in valuations in their fundraise discussions.
PharmEasy was last valued at $5.6 billion and was aiming at an IPO valuation of around $7-8 billion. It closed a $350-million pre-IPO funding round in October, taking its total fundraising in 2021 to nearly $1 billion.
According to a recent report from Bernstein Research, PharmEasy has half the share in online pharmacy gross merchandise value, compared with 16% for Tata-owned 1mg and 15% for Reliance Industries’ Netmeds.
ET reported on February 10, that hospitality startup Oyo Hotels & Homes was considering cutting its IPO size and was likely to reconsider its valuation for the public share sale. Its IPO plan has yet to get the final clearance from Sebi.
