AceVector, the holding entity behind online marketplace Snapdeal and backed by co-founders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Kumar Bansal alongside SoftBank affiliate Starfish, submitted its Updated Draft Red Herring Prospectus (UDRHP) with market regulator Sebi on 6 December for a planned initial public offering.
The public offering comprises two components: new equity worth Rs 300 crore and existing stakeholders divesting 6.38 crore shares through an offer-for-sale mechanism.
Several current investors including promoter Starfish, along with Nexus, Wonderful Star, Kenneth Stuart Glass, Priyanka Shreevar Kheruka, Jason Ashok Kothari, Rupen Investment and Centaurus Trading will participate in selling their holdings during the OFS.
The company, which manages a digital commerce ecosystem spanning Snapdeal's marketplace platform, Unicommerce's SaaS solutions for e-commerce, and consumer brand venture Stellaro Brands, had secured regulatory clearance for its confidential IPO submission in November.
The initial confidential papers were lodged in July 2024 using Sebi's framework introduced in 2022, which permits companies to submit draft documents privately before public disclosure near listing time. This mechanism provides issuers greater latitude to gauge market conditions prior to proceeding with their offerings.
Before finalising the Red Herring Prospectus with the Registrar of Companies, AceVector may pursue a pre-IPO fundraise of up to Rs 60 crore.
The promoter group controls 66.43 per cent of AceVector, with Starfish accounting for 30.68 per cent. Public shareholders, including Nexus India, eBay Singapore Services, Wonderful Star, Dunearn Investments, and PI Opportunities Fund, own the remaining 33.57 per cent.
Regarding fund deployment, the Gurgaon-headquartered firm plans to allocate Rs 125 crore from the fresh issue toward marketing and promotional activities for its marketplace operations. An additional Rs 55 crore will support technology infrastructure development, while remaining proceeds will target acquisitions and general corporate requirements.
Financially, the company reported a loss of Rs 29.7 crore for the half-year ending September 2025, showing improvement from the Rs 113.2 crore loss recorded during the same period last year. Topline performance strengthened considerably, with revenues climbing 34.9 per cent to Rs 244.4 crore from Rs 181.2 crore YoY.
For fiscal 2025, losses expanded to Rs 138.9 crore compared to Rs 57.8 crore in the prior year, though annual revenue increased 4 per cent to Rs 395 crore from Rs 379.8 crore.
Among AceVector's portfolio companies, only Unicommerce eSolutions trades publicly, with shares closing at Rs 119.51 on 5 December, substantially below its peak of Rs 264 reached on 20 August 2024.
IIFL Capital Services and CLSA India have been engaged as book-running lead managers for the offering. |