Matrimony.com to see Bessemer exiting through Rs 500 cr IPO

Mayfield to sell 1% of holding, JP Morgan Asset Management will sell a third of its investment

Matrimony.com Ltd, the online matchmaking services player based in Chennai, is expected to launch an Initial Public Offer to raise around Rs 500 crore on September 11, and one of the private equity investors in the company is expected to see an exit through the route.

According to company officials, Bessemer India Capital is expected to sell 1,461,006 equity shares in Matrimony.com through the IPO, marking its exit from the company. The investor has around seven per cent stake in the company at present.

Another private equity investor, Mayfield, is expected to sell less than one per cent of its shares in the company, while JP Morgan Asset Management, which holds shares in Matrimony.com through CMDB bought from Canaan Partners, will sell about a third of its holding.

Mayfield currentlyhas 12 per cent and JP Morgan has 24 per cent stake in the company, while the company's promoters, led by Murugavel Janakiraman, hold around 55 per cent.

Post IPO, the promoter will have 50.58 per cent stake, Mayfield will have 10.53 per cent and JP Morgan 14.9 per cent.

The company, which put its IPO on hold last year following adverse market conditions, has initiated the process earlier this year and is planning the offer with a fresh issue aggregating to Rs 130 crore apart from an offer for sale by some of the existing shareholders.

The offer for sale is of up to 3,767,254 equity shares, of which 1,461,006 equity shares are owned by Bessemer India Capital Hodlings II Ltd, 155,760 by Mayfield XII, Mauritius, and 1,683,207 by CMDB II. This is in addition to an offer of 384,447 equity shares by promoter Murugavel Janakiraman and 82,834 equity sahres by Indrani Janakiraman, a member of the promoter group. The offer includes a reservation of up to Rs 50 lakh for eligible employees, the company said.

The price band for the IPO has been fixed at Rs 983-985 per equity share of face value of Rs 5 each. The company would use around Rs 40 crore of the proceeds from fresh equity to set up an integrated office in Chennai, apart from repaying an overdraft of over Rs 40 crore and spending around Rs 20 crore for advertisements.

The company is expecting a big market opportunity in matrimony-related business. The matchmaking services company also has various segments such as Matrimony Bazaar, Matrimony Photography, Matrimony Mandaps and Matrimony Directory. Its revenue was around Rs 292 crore in FY17, up 14.7 per cent over the previous year. It has around 140 retail centres in 10 cities in the country.