By Aditya Kalra
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Indian food delivery giant Swiggy has slashed its IPO valuation again, to $11.3 billion, 25% below the initial goal of $15 billion as market volatility and the lacklustre debut of Hyundai (OTC:HYMTF) India weigh on sentiment, two sources said on Sunday.
BlackRock and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) will invest in the $1.4 billion IPO, which will be the country’s second-biggest stock offering this year, the sources told Reuters.
Swiggy, Blackrock (NYSE:BLK) and CPPIB did not immediately respond to requests for comment outside business hours.
Indian shares have fallen for four weeks in a row, the longest such losing run since August 2023, with the benchmark Nifty 50 index down more than 8% from record highs hit on Sept. 27, due to persistent foreign selling.
Hyundai India shares fell 7.2% on their debut last week after retail investors gave a lukewarm reception amid concerns about a lofty valuation.
Swiggy, backed by SoftBank (TYO:9984) and Prosus (OTC:PROSF), was concerned to avoid a tepid response to its relatively large IPO, coming amid global uncertainty from the Nov. 5 U.S. presidential election, and decided to cut the valuation in consultation with investors, said one source, with direct knowledge of the company’s plans.
Swiggy does not want a “bad IPO”, this person said. Its last funding round, led by Invesco, valued it at $10.7 billion in 2022.
It competes with Zomato in India’s online restaurant and cafe food deliveries sector, and both have made major bets on a boom in “quick-commerce,” where groceries and other products are delivered in 10 minutes.
Despite recent jitters, India’s IPO market has been buoyant, with around 270 companies raising $12.57 billion so far this year, well above the $7.4 billion raised in all of 2023.
