The Indian online delivery platform Grofers is in talks with Cantor Fitzgerald’s Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) for its listing on the NASDAQ.
The firm is considering a May listing for a valuation of $1 billion and is expected to raise $400-500 million in the process, according to a media report.
The heightened competition from rivals BigBasket and Amazon has compelled the e-grocer to tap funds through the SPAC route.
If the listing materializes, Grofers could be the first Indian startup to have taken the route of the SPAC to tap funds.
This will help Grofers to possibly list in India later. SPACs are currently one of the buzziest trends among dealmakers in Silicon Valley.
Raising money from SPAC is easier and faster than the IPO route because the company that wants to go public negotiates with a single firm as opposed to many individual investors.
Apart from this, the grocery delivery platform is in talks with a few other SPACs as well for the listing.
Grofers has also executed a private investment in public equity (PIPE) from external investors, the valuation of which has already touched $1 billion in the PIPE transaction.
PIPE is similar to a Pre-Initial Public Offering (IPO) round to set a price for the listing.
Grofers also may go for an IPO without merging with a SPAC, of which Citibank has taken the lead to complete the process. Credit Suisse also is expected to join in.
Last year, the firm was in discussion with food delivery app Zomato for a merger, but the talks fell apart. Since then, the e-grocer has raised around $40 million at a valuation of about $650 million.
