Meesho opens its doors to public investment next week

MUMBAI: If you’ve been waiting to own a slice of one of India’s buzzing e-commerce success stories, mark your calendar: Meesho Limited is throwing open its initial public offering next Wednesday.

The company has fixed its price band between Rs 105 and Rs 111 per equity share, with bidding kicking off on 3 December and wrapping up by 5 December. Those keen to jump in will need to bid for a minimum of 135 shares, which translates to roughly Rs 14,175 at the lower end of the price range.

“We wanted to pick a valuation that attracts the right long-term shareholders,” says founder and CEO Vidit Aatrey. For him, the IPO is about building durability rather than chasing glamour. “We have been the market leader in value-focused e-commerce, and we will continue to stay focused here in the future.”

A day before the general public gets their chance, anchor investors will get first dibs on Tuesday, 2 December. It’s rather like getting backstage passes before the main concert begins.

The offering itself is a substantial affair. Meesho plans to raise Rs 42,500 million through fresh equity whilst existing shareholders, including founders Vidit Aatrey and Sanjeev Kumar, are offloading up to 105.5 million shares. The selling shareholders read like a who’s who of venture capital, featuring names such as Elevation Capital, Peak XV Partners, and Y Combinator Continuity.

The company’s financials tell a compelling turnaround story. CFO Dhiresh Bansal notes that Meesho has “moved from cash-flow negative to cash-flow positive: from minus Rs 2,000 crore in FY23 to generating nearly Rs 1,000 crore of positive free cash flow.”

Behind the numbers lies serious tech muscle. Co-founder and CTO Sanjeev Kumar points out that the company has “built one of India’s most advanced AI-commerce apps, designed to be extremely lightweight while understanding 10 languages, image search, voice search and even messy Indian addresses.” The platform processes about 3 petabytes of data daily, making every interaction smarter.

Here’s where it gets interesting for different types of investors. The company has carved up the pie quite deliberately: qualified institutional buyers get the lion’s share at 75 per cent of the offer, with up to 60 per cent of that potentially going to anchor investors. Non-institutional investors can bid for up to 15 per cent, whilst retail punters are capped at 10 per cent.

The shares will list on both the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange of India, with NSE serving as the designated stock exchange. A formidable lineup of book running lead managers is steering the ship, including Kotak Mahindra Capital, JP Morgan India, Morgan Stanley India, Axis Capital, and Citigroup Global Markets India.

For those wanting to dive deeper into the numbers and fine print, the red herring prospectus is available at investor.meesho.com/ipo-disclosures.

Whether Meesho’s public market debut matches the enthusiasm of its private funding rounds remains to be seen. But one thing’s certain: the next fortnight will reveal just how much appetite investors have for another e-commerce player in India’s increasingly crowded digital marketplace.