Ecom Express Seeks ₹2,600 Crore in IPO, Files DRHP with SEBI

16 Aug 2024 , 02:42 PM

Ecom Express, a Gurugram-based B2C e-commerce logistics provider backed by Warburg Pincus, Partners Group, and British International Investment, has filed a draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with SEBI on August 15 to raise ₹2,600 Crore through an IPO.

The IPO will include a fresh issuance of shares worth ₹1,284.5 Crore and an offer-for-sale (OFS) of up to ₹1,315.5 Crore by promoters and investors.

Promoters including Kotla Satyanarayana, Manju Dhawan, Kotla Sridevi, Kotla Rathnanjali, Eaglebay Investment, and PG Esmeralda Pte will sell shares worth ₹1,160.84 Crore via OFS.

Investor British International Investment plc plans to sell ₹136.97 Crore worth of shares in the OFS, with additional shares being sold by Jayanti Krishnan, Rabeya Saxena, and Saheba Saxena.

Eaglebay Investment, owned by Warburg Pincus, and PG Esmeralda Pte, part of Partners Group, are involved in the OFS.

Ecom Express may raise up to ₹256.9 Crore through a pre-IPO placement before filing the Red Herring Prospectus with the Registrar of Companies (ROC). This amount will be deducted from the fresh issue size.

The promoters hold 82.99% of the company’s shares, while the remaining 17.01% is held by public shareholders, including 10.03% by British International Investment plc (formerly CDC Group plc).

The company plans to allocate ₹387.44 Crore of the fresh issue proceeds for new processing and fulfillment centers, ₹73.7 Crore for IT equipment, and ₹239.2 Crore for enhancing technological and data science capabilities, including cloud infrastructure.

₹87.92 Crore will be used to repay debt, and the remaining funds will be allocated for general corporate purposes and potential acquisitions. As of June 2024, the company had outstanding borrowings of ₹165.65 Crore.

Ecom Express reported a net loss of ₹248.5 Crore for the fiscal year ended March 2024, improving from a loss of ₹359.85 Crore the previous year. Revenue from operations grew by 2.2% to ₹2,609.2 Crore during the same period.

The company’s EBITDA loss for fiscal 2024 was ₹4.8 Crore, a significant improvement from the previous year’s EBITDA loss of ₹49.7 Crore. In fiscal 2022, the EBITDA profit was ₹83.3 Crore on revenue of ₹2,091.9 Crore.

Ecom Express competes with Blue Dart Express and Delhivery and has established strong relationships with major e-commerce clients including Meesho, Amazon, Nykaa, Puma, Purplle, E-Kart, and V Mart, serving 6,384 active customers as of March 2024.

The Indian B2C e-commerce market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 21% over the next five years, expanding from ₹5.1 lakh Crore in gross merchandise value (GMV) in fiscal 2024 to ₹12.5 – ₹13.5 lakh Crore by FY29. Tier 2+ regions are expected to drive significant growth, contributing 70-80% of B2C e-commerce shipments by FY29.

In fiscal 2024, Ecom Express held the second-largest market share in B2C e-commerce shipments among peers, handling over 27% of all B2C e-commerce shipments through third-party logistics providers in India.