India’s Zomato raises US$1.26 billion in IPO

Indian food delivery startup Zomato Ltd ` will raise US$1.26 billion by pricing its shares at 76 rupees each in its initial public offering, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the matter.

The sources could not be named as the information has not yet been made public.

Zomato did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The company, which is backed by Ant Group, will be valued at up to US$8 billion following the IPO which is the first for a food delivery group in India.

The pricing is set at the top of the flagged range of 72 rupees (US$0.9649) to 76 rupees each at the start of the booking building process.

Zomato, launched in 2008, collates restaurant reviews and offers home delivery of food, making it a competitor to the Swiggy and Amazon.com’s food delivery service.

Swiggy was reported had raised US$1.25 billion in a private funding round from the likes of SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2 and Prosus.

Zomato’s IPO was strongly backed by investors attracting bids worth US$46.3 billion as it was more than 38 times oversubscribed when the books closed on Friday, signalling confidence about the fast-growing sector.