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Economic Times
8 hours ago
- Business
- Economic Times
BlueStone's pre-IPO glow up; PE funds go tech shopping
Ahead of its listing, BlueStone is poised to become India's next unicorn through a secondary deal. This and more in today's ETtech Morning Dispatch. Also in the letter: ■ Google bets on India■ ETtech Done Deals■ 'Safety Charter' for India BlueStone set to enter unicorn club on road to IPO Gaurav Singh Kushwaha, CEO, Bluestone Omnichannel jewellery retailer BlueStone is set to become India's newest unicorn, with a secondary deal valuing the company at around $1.2 billion, ahead of its public listing. Tell me more: The private wealth management arms of 360 One and Centrum Wealth are in advanced discussions for secondary deals valued at Rs 300–350 crore. Both platforms intend to offload their holdings to clients before the Bengaluru-based firm debuts in the public markets. In numbers: The deal values BlueStone at Rs 10,500 crore ($1.2 billion), reflecting a 30% increase from its Rs 8,100 crore (approximately $970 million) valuation in the August 2024 funding round. Lucrative returns: Singapore-based RB Investments will completely exit the company through these transactions. Holding a 2–3% stake, RB is anticipated to achieve a 10–12x return on investment. Catch up, quick: BlueStone submitted the draft prospectus for its IPO to Sebi in December and obtained regulatory approval in April. The offer comprises a fresh issue of shares worth Rs 1,000 crore and an offer-for-sale (OFS) of nearly 24 million shares. Investors including Accel, Saama Capital, IvyCap Ventures, and Kalaari Capital will partially or fully divest through the OFS. PE funds pick up significant stakes in fast-growing tech firms Private equity funds are acquiring significant stakes in rapidly growing technology firms across high-growth sectors. At least four deals have been finalised since the start of 2025, according to investment bankers and industry executives. Deals book: New Mountain Capital acquired a 70–75% stake in Access Healthcare Kedaara Capital invested $350 million in Impetus Technologies HIG Capital picked up a stake worth C$1.3 billion in Converge Technology Solutions Agilitas PE bought a stake worth 300 million euros in Tietoevry Tech Services. Players on the pitch: Active dealmakers include PE funds like Blackstone, Carlyle, EQT Partners, Barings PE Asia and Chryscapital. Most of the recent activity has concentrated on digital engineering and healthcare revenue cycle management (RCM), with at least 70 to 80 new buyers entering the market, said Shobhit Jain, head of enterprise, technology and services at Avendus Capital. Investor interest: This burst of dealmaking follows a strong run of 21 PE-backed deals valued over $300 million between January 2024 and March 2025. By comparison, only nine such deals were recorded in the previous year. But why? India's software products market is projected to grow from $15 billion in FY23 to $44 billion by FY31, according to a March report by SaaSBoomi and 1Lattice. This projection underscores the rising investor confidence and the increasing scope for tech-focused investments. Google 'very bullish' on India, says new country head Preeti Lobana Google remains "very bullish" on India despite macroeconomic headwinds and a slowdown in consumption, Google India country manager Preeti Lobana told us in her first interview since taking charge. Sectors such as gaming, edtech, ecommerce, and quick commerce continue to experience rapid growth, she said. Growth engines: Google is doubling down on its "One Google' approach and artificial intelligence (AI) to drive growth in India. This includes offering a comprehensive suite of solutions—advertising, cloud, and payments—to serve both large enterprises and small businesses. Lobana said Google remains committed to building India-first products. AI strategy: Lobana dismissed concerns about AI chatbots threatening Google's core search product. The company has weathered every major tech shift and emerged stronger, she said. Google is adapting its products to reflect changing consumer habits, including support for longer, more conversational queries. The AI mode in Search will roll out in India shortly, she confirmed. MakeMyTrip plans $3 billion buyback; China's stake to fall below 20% India's largest online travel platform, MakeMyTrip, plans to raise $3 billion through a mix of equity and debt to buy back shares from China's Group. The deal will reduce stake from 19.99% to 45.34%, making it the biggest-ever fundraise by a listed Indian new-age company. Driving the news: board representation will drop from five directors to two. Meanwhile, MakeMyTrip cofounders Deep Kalra and Rajesh Magow, who hold 4.6% voting rights, will retain the right to appoint three independent directors. Backstory: first invested in MakeMyTrip in 2016 via $180 million in convertible bonds. It later acquired Naspers' 42% stake in 2019 through a share swap. Adding context: The buyback follows scrutiny over Chinese ownership amid data security concerns. Rival EaseMyTrip's founder had flagged board influence, which MakeMyTrip dismissed as a 'motivated accusation.' By the numbers: $1.4–1.6 billion via primary equity issuance $1.25 billion via convertible notes, plus a $187.5 million greenshoe option FY25 gross bookings: $9.8 billion; profit: $95.3 million Q4 FY25 gross bookings: $2.5 billion; profit: $29.2 million The big picture: Several Indian startups, including Paytm, Zomato, and Dream Sports, have also cut Chinese holdings in recent years. Secured lender Techfino raises Rs 65 crore from Stellaris, Saison Capital: Non-bank lender Techfino raised Rs 65 crore in equity funding from Stellaris Venture Partners and Saison Capital, the venture arm of Japan's Credit Saison. Razorpay invests $30 million into consumer payments startup Pop: Fintech major Razorpay has invested $30 million in consumer payments platform Pop to help merchants manage rising customer acquisition costs and boost user rewards. Why it matters: Razorpay is doubling down on loyalty and commerce tools after acquiring PoshVine earlier. Other Top Stories By Our Reporters Google releases 'safety charter' for India: The internet major released a 'safety charter' for India to tackle online scams, enhance cybersecurity for government and businesses, and promote responsible AI. Salesforce eyes manufacturing boom in India through AI and cloud solutions: While manufacturing has lagged behind banking and financial services in adopting digital platforms, the situation can be improved with enhanced data and insights, said Arundhati Bhattacharya, Salesforce's president and CEO for South Asia. Global Picks We Are Reading ■ The Trump Mobile T1 Phone looks both bad and impossible (The Verge) ■ Scale AI's Wang brings to Meta knowledge of what everyone else is doing (Bloomberg) ■ Minnesota shooting suspect allegedly used data broker sites to find targets' addresses (Wired) Updated On Jun 18, 2025, 07:16 AM IST
Economic Times
9 hours ago
- Business
- Economic Times
IPO-bound BlueStone geared for unicorn tag
The private wealth management arms of 360 One and Centrum Wealth are in discussions to facilitate secondary deals amounting to Rs 300–350 crore in the jewellery retailer BlueStone, said people in the know. Both platforms will sell the stakes to their clients ahead of the Bengaluru-based company's public market debut, they transaction will value BlueStone at Rs 10,500 crore ($1.2 billion), about 30% higher than its Rs 8,100 crore valuation from the last funding round in August to one of the people in the know, Singapore-based RB Investments will fully exit BlueStone through the deals. RB Investments, which holds a 2–3% stake in the company, is set to make a 10–12x return on its investment. It backed BlueStone across various stages between 2016 and 2019, investing around Rs 28–30 crore. The Singapore-based family office has also backed Indian companies such as Swiggy, Giva and Rebel Foods.'The round took place because there was interest from certain investor classes to pick a stake prior to the IPO,' one of the persons said. 'BlueStone is soon expected to finalise the pricing for the IPO.' A secondary deal is between existing and incoming investors, and the cash doesn't go into the managers pool investment deals for their clients, which typically include the likes of domestic family offices and high networth individuals (HNIs). These investors are usually added to the capitalisation table prior to a public issue. Private wealth management firms have earlier facilitated pre-IPO deals in companies such as food and grocery delivery firm Swiggy, hospitality platform Oyo, logistics startup Shadowfax and business-to-business (B2B) meat company Captain Fresh. BlueStone filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) in December, gaining approval in April. Its IPO includes a fresh capital raise of Rs 1,000 crore and an offer-for-sale (OFS) component of nearly 24 million shares, which will see investors including Accel, Saama Capital, IvyCap Ventures and Kalaari Capital selling their sent to BlueStone founder and CEO Gaurav Singh Kushwaha went unanswered. In response to an emailed query, Centrum Wealth said, 'There may be a few HNI clients who seek exposure, to whom we may facilitate through a market intermediary.'A spokesperson for 360 One said, 'We have no comments on the query.'RB Investments also did not respond. BlueStone had closed a Rs 900-crore funding round—a combination of primary and secondary transactions—in August 2024, which saw the participation of investors such as Peak XV Partners, Prosus, Steadview Capital, Think Investments and Infosys cofounder Kris Gopalakrishnan's family investment office Pratithi Investments. In May this year, BlueStone raised Rs 40 crore in debt from alternative debt platform BlackSoil and Caspian Impact Investments. Over the last few years, investors have turned bullish on the jewellery business. This trend picked up steam after the Tata Group's full acquisition of CaratLane at a valuation of Rs 17,000 crore. The conglomerate had first invested in the startup in 2016, when it was valued at Rs 563 crore. Omnichannel jewellery startup Giva, which specialises in silver products, is also in talks to pick up Rs 450 crore ($53 million) in a financing round led by Creaegis in addition to participation by Premji Invest, Epiq Capital and others. BlueStone closed fiscal 2024 with Rs 1,266 crore in revenue, a 64% jump from the year ago. Its loss during the year contracted to Rs 142 crore in FY24 from Rs 167 crore in fiscal 2023. For the first three months of fiscal 2025, BlueStone reported operating revenue of Rs 348 crore and net loss of Rs 59 crore.
Time of India
9 hours ago
- Business
- Time of India
IPO-bound BlueStone geared for unicorn tag
The private wealth management arms of 360 One and Centrum Wealth are in discussions to facilitate secondary deals amounting to Rs 300–350 crore in the jewellery retailer BlueStone , said people in the know. Both platforms will sell the stakes to their clients ahead of the Bengaluru-based company's public market debut, they said. The transaction will value BlueStone at Rs 10,500 crore ($1.2 billion), about 30% higher than its Rs 8,100 crore valuation from the last funding round in August 2024. According to one of the people in the know, Singapore-based RB Investments will fully exit BlueStone through the deals. RB Investments, which holds a 2–3% stake in the company, is set to make a 10–12x return on its investment. It backed BlueStone across various stages between 2016 and 2019, investing around Rs 28–30 crore. The Singapore-based family office has also backed Indian companies such as Swiggy, Giva and Rebel Foods. 'The round took place because there was interest from certain investor classes to pick a stake prior to the IPO,' one of the persons said. 'BlueStone is soon expected to finalise the pricing for the IPO.' A secondary deal is between existing and incoming investors, and the cash doesn't go into the company. Wealth managers pool investment deals for their clients, which typically include the likes of domestic family offices and high networth individuals (HNIs). These investors are usually added to the capitalisation table prior to a public issue. Private wealth management firms have earlier facilitated pre-IPO deals in companies such as food and grocery delivery firm Swiggy, hospitality platform Oyo, logistics startup Shadowfax and business-to-business (B2B) meat company Captain Fresh. Discover the stories of your interest Blockchain 5 Stories Cyber-safety 7 Stories Fintech 9 Stories E-comm 9 Stories ML 8 Stories Edtech 6 Stories BlueStone filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) in December, gaining approval in April. Its IPO includes a fresh capital raise of Rs 1,000 crore and an offer-for-sale (OFS) component of nearly 24 million shares, which will see investors including Accel , Saama Capital, IvyCap Ventures and Kalaari Capital selling their stakes. Queries sent to BlueStone founder and CEO Gaurav Singh Kushwaha went unanswered. In response to an emailed query, Centrum Wealth said, 'There may be a few HNI clients who seek exposure, to whom we may facilitate through a market intermediary.' A spokesperson for 360 One said, 'We have no comments on the query.' RB Investments also did not respond. BlueStone had closed a Rs 900-crore funding round —a combination of primary and secondary transactions—in August 2024, which saw the participation of investors such as Peak XV Partners, Prosus, Steadview Capital, Think Investments and Infosys cofounder Kris Gopalakrishnan's family investment office Pratithi Investments. In May this year, BlueStone raised Rs 40 crore in debt from alternative debt platform BlackSoil and Caspian Impact Investments. Over the last few years, investors have turned bullish on the jewellery business. This trend picked up steam after the Tata Group's full acquisition of CaratLane at a valuation of Rs 17,000 crore. The conglomerate had first invested in the startup in 2016, when it was valued at Rs 563 crore. Omnichannel jewellery startup Giva, which specialises in silver products, is also in talks to pick up Rs 450 crore ($53 million) in a financing round led by Creaegis in addition to participation by Premji Invest, Epiq Capital and others. BlueStone closed fiscal 2024 with Rs 1,266 crore in revenue, a 64% jump from the year ago. Its loss during the year contracted to Rs 142 crore in FY24 from Rs 167 crore in fiscal 2023. For the first three months of fiscal 2025, BlueStone reported operating revenue of Rs 348 crore and net loss of Rs 59 crore.
