Mobile marketing company Affle (India) Ltd, the Indian unit of Microsoft-backed Affle Holding, is planning to raise up to ₹459 crore through an Initial Public Offering (IPO) that will open for subscription on July 29.
The company has fixed a price band of ₹740-745 a share, with the IPO comprising a fresh issue of up to ₹90 crore and an Offer For Share of up to ₹369 crore. The issue will close on July 31, the company said in a statement.
Affle (India) had received SEBI approval for an initial stake sale in October 2018.
ICICI Securities, Nomura Financial Advisory and Securities (India) are the Book Running Lead Managers to the issue, while Karvy Fintech is the registrar. Following the IPO, the firm intends to list the shares on both BSE and NSE.
The company intends to use the proceeds for working capital requirements and general corporate purposes.
Affle India, is part of Singapore-based Affle Holdings, in which Microsoft holds a 6.48 per cent stake. It is also backed by investors such as Ascent Capital, NGP Capital and Inventus Capital Partners.
The firm is a consumer intelligence-driven mobile marketing platform, which is used by business-to-consumer firms. According to the Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP), Malabar India Fund and Malabar Value Fund, collectively known as Malabar Investments, had acquired a 7.83 per cent stake for ₹136 crore in Affle India ahead of the IPO.
In September 2018, Affle had acquired Bengaluru-based Vizury Interactive Solutions’ commerce business and brand in an undisclosed all-cash deal.
Founded in 2008, Vizury is a data-driven mobile marketing company with three business lines — push messaging, re-targeting and financial products. Its commerce business is spread out across India, Middle East and Africa (MEA) and the US, among other geographies.
Read more: Affle buys Vizury’s re-targeting, push notifications biz
Prior to that in March 2018, Affle (India) had acquired the ‘Markt’ platform to expand its online-to-offline (O2O) commerce business.