Cofounders Vidit Aatrey and Sanjeev Barnwal, who together hold around 18.5% in the company, will see the value of their stake pegged at Rs 8,749 crore at the upper end of the price band. Both are selling 1.6 crore shares each and are expected to realise about Rs 178 crore from the offer for sale.
CEO Aatrey, who holds 47.2 crore shares, will see his stake valued at around Rs 5,245 crore. According to the draft IPO prospectus, Aatrey acquired his shares at an average cost of just Rs 0.06 per share. Similarly, chief technology officer Barnwal’s holding, currently valued at around Rs 3,504 crore, was acquired at similar nominal pricing.
Early backers of the company are also set to snag big returns.
Elevation Capital, Meesho’s largest shareholder with a 13.6% stake, is sitting on a 37x return on its investment. The venture capital firm, which invested in Meesho at an average cost of Rs 3.04 per share, now holds a stake valued at around Rs 6,432.2 crore. Elevation is trimming its offer for sale (OFS) portion to 2.4 crore shares from the earlier planned 5.5 crore and will realise roughly Rs 271.3 crore.
Peak XV Partners, the second-largest shareholder, with 12.8% stake valued at around Rs 6,055 crore first backed the online commerce platform in 2018. The VC firm has also reduced its OFS size and will now sell 1.7 crore shares, amounting to a cash realisation of around Rs 193 crore.
Among the other early investors, Silicon Valley startup accelerator Y Combinator has emerged as one of the big gainers. Its 5.1 crore shares, representing a 1.2% stake, is now valued at around Rs 576.3 crore, translating to a 108-fold paper return. YC’s other win this year came when stock broking and wealthtech startup Groww went public in a Rs 6.632 crore IPO earlier this month. YC’s 10.14% stake in Groww is now valued at around Rs 10,046 crore.
Dutch investor Prosus, which holds around 12.3% in Meesho, will see its stake valued at about Rs 5,834 crore. Another major backer, the Masayoshi Son-led SoftBank, holds 9.3% in the etailer valuing its stake at roughly Rs 4,400 crore, while WestBridge Capital’s 3.9% shareholding is worth around Rs 1,853 crore.
Another early investor, Venture Highway, which was merged with US venture capital firm General Catalyst last year, has seen about a 2.3x return, with its holding valued at Rs 174.3 crore.
Venture Highway sold a portion of its stake in Meesho in early 2024 to WestBridge Capital, ET reported last year. The firm then said it made more than 50 times returns on its investment in Meesho from its first vintage fund following this sale.
Other global investors, which are not participating in the OFS, are also holding significant stakes.
The IPO opens on December 3 and closes on December 5. The company has reduced the OFS component from 17.5 crore shares to 10.5 crore shares, while the fresh issue portion remains unchanged.
In an interaction with ET, Aatrey said the company is doubling down on its asset-light strategy while working to widen its user base as it gears up for the public listing.
Rising IPO activity among new-age companies has generated major liquidity for venture capital and growth equity investors this year. As reported by ET on November 17, about half a dozen tech companies, including Urban Company, Lenskart, Groww, Ather Energy, Bluestone and Pine Labs, that have listed this year have collectively unlocked more than Rs 15,000 crore ($1.6 billion) via the OFS route alone for their shareholders.