Ali Hasan
Looks like its IPO season as another firm has filed for the permission to SEBI for an IPO. Nazara Technologies is backed by Rakesh Jhunjhunwala and will offering a public issue that will see a sale of 4.96 million equity shares by Nazara’s promoters and investors at a face value of ₹ 4 each, the filing showed.
Nazara Technologies 2nd Attempt at IPO
This year, Nazara’s IPO debut could kick off a series of tech IPOs in the country as startups like Zomato, Nykaa and Delhivery are headed for the public markets. Nazara had first filed the DRHP in January 2018 and had even got approval from SEBI for an IPO (Initial Public Offering). However it didn’t go ahead with the launch because of a market slump.
Nazara counts stock broking giant Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, IIFL Asset Management, Sequoia Capital, Plutus Wealth Management as its investors. Rakesh Jhunjhunwala holds 11.38% stake in the firm.
IIFL had invested Rs 327 crores in November 2017 and Rakesh Jhunjhunwala Rs 182 crores in December 2017, while the Nazara itself invested around Rs 300 crores in the last 5 years. Nazara operates in 52 countries from North America and the Middle East to Africa and Southeast Asia.
Earlier in January 2021, WestBridge Ventures, an early investor in Nazara, had exited the company through a secondary transaction as Plutus pumped in ₹500 crores into the company. According to reports, the exit gave WestBridge 40 times the return on its investment.
Nazara strengthened its offerings by going on an acquisition drive. It has pumped in over $50 million in startups in the last 2 years. “Looking at the explosive growth in the interactive entertainment and sports ecosystem, Nazara has decided to up its aggression on investing in the emerging market ecosystem and support early stage startups accelerating the growth of these companies and the industry at large,” Nazara Technologies CEO, Manish Agarwal.
Nazara Technologies just became the 1st Indian gaming technology company to seek a market debut as mobile entertainment takes off across the world’s No. 2 smartphone arena.
Founded by gamer Nitish Mittersain in 2000, when he was a college undergrad, Nazara is among the firms that have benefited from a global boom in smartphone gaming that began even before the pandemic drove millions online. Mittersain started the company with ₹ 3 crores borrowed from friends and family, only to get derailed during the dotcom bust. The firm spent its first decade clearing debt, but steadily built market share by acquiring fellow gaming startups.
Nazara is eyeing revenues of Rs 470 crore in FY21. Will you invest in the IPO? Tell us below in the comments. Your comments are valuable for us and we may reply to them as well. For more information, head over to their website and head over to IPO alerts to know about all the latest IPOs in the Indian stock market.
