Matrimony.com comes up with an IPO to consolidate its operations

India has been known for its culture-centric diaspora, with weddings being an integral part of its daily life. Presently, the Indian Wedding market is witnessing an unprecedented hikeon account of rise in growth of online matchmaking market players.

Spurred by the introduction of new technologies, rise in internet penetration and entry of new players in wedding planning segment, these players are changing the way partners are selected and relationships are forged.

Digital literacy has been a major champion of the cause, spearheading people to find love under the jurisdiction of a few key strokes. Domestic factors such as increased subscriptions, increased freedom of choice in seeking a life partner, convenience and the availability of suitors from global as well as on local basis has cemented the presence of these verticals, creating a progressive space for new entrants to populate the market.

Today, players like Matrimony.com, Jeevansathi and Shaadi.com are dominating the market. Alongside, new entrants like LoveVivah.com who have come up with innovative features like Aadhaar linked profiles, is gaining popularity amongst the consumers. These provide a plethora of offerings for the prospective bride/groom to bank on.

As a move to synergize the fragmented market, Matrimony.com, a part of Bharat Matrimony brand is unveiling an Initial Public offer (IPO) to bolster its operations. The initial public offer of Matrimony.com, which runs online match making business, is likely to open on 11 September. Here are a few key findings in regard to the offer:

The Chennai-based organization has unveiled fixed a price band of Rs. 983-985 for raising over Rs. 500 crore. Murugavel Janakiraman is the CEO and founder of Matrimony.com

The set extensively consists a fresh issue of up to Rs. 130 crore, alongside an offer for sale (OFS) of up to 37,67,254 shares . The OFS consists of up to 14,61,006 shares by Bessemer India Capital Holdings II Ltd., 1,55,760 by Mayfield XII, Mauritius, 16,83,207 by CMDB II, 3,84,447 by Murugavel Janakiraman and 82,834 by Indrani Janakiraman, with face value of Rs. 5 each.

The IPO is set to remain open from September 11 - September 13. Net proceeds will be poured into various marketing activities such as advertising and business promotion. Along with that, purchase of land for construction premises in Chennai, repayment of overdraft facilities and other purposes would be facilitated through this IPO.

Axis Capital and ICICI Securities are set to be the official book running lead managers to the offer, while registrar to the offer is Karvy Computershare Private Ltd. The shares of Matrimony.com are projected to be listed on the BSE and the National Stock Exchange of India.

The firm had previously witnessed a negative net worth of Rs. 3113.2 crore as of March 31, 2017, owing to competition scaling up efforts to garner larger traction. The firm also restated losses in a sum total of three of the past five fiscal years-it sustained losses of Rs. 915.9 crore, Rs. 292.9 crore and Rs. 7506.9 crore in fiscal 2014, fiscal 2015 and fiscal 2016, respectively.

Currently as of April 15, 2017, Bharat Matrimony mobile app and apps for regional and community sites have noted a 5.8 million estimated downloads, according to www.androidrank.org. A significant figure of its members utilise mobile facilities to access online matchmaking services.