Pine Labs plans $1 billion IPO in India after shift from Singapore

Likely to seek over $6 bn valuation; may go for pre-IPO round

Fintech firm Pine Labs, backed by Peak XV Partners and Mastercard Inc, is reportedly eyeing an initial public offering (IPO) of $1 billion in India.

This comes as the company has received approval from a Singapore court to relocate its base to India, merging its Singapore and Indian entities.

The company may seek a valuation of more than $6 billion in an IPO, according to industry sources. It may issue both new and secondary shares, and could also opt to do a pre-IPO fundraising round ahead of any listing. This development was first reported by Bloomberg. Pine Labs didn’t comment about this development.

 

At about $1 billion, the Pine Labs IPO, if goes ahead, would be the biggest by an Indian fintech firm after Paytm operator One97 Communications raised about $2.5 billion in 2021, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Pine Labs had previously filed confidentially with the US Securities and Exchange Commission for an IPO in New York in 2022. The listing could have given Pine Labs a valuation of about $5.5 billion to $7 billion, according to the sources.

A confidential IPO helps a firm withhold its financial information and other details from rivals for a relatively longer period of time compared to the traditional S-1 filings in the US. In S-1 filings, one has to give the full picture of the firm’s finances and other data points.

Pine Labs is a leading merchant commerce omnichannel platform operating across India, West Asia, and Southeast Asia. In digital payments, its online payments Cloud-based software Plural represents a one-stop payment destination across channels. Its issuing business is powered by Qwikcilver, which offers end-to-end technology service solutions in the pre-paid transaction management, gift cards, and sales and distribution space.

In consumer apps, it has Fave, a fintech platform for consumers, providing smart payments and savings. This also empowers merchants with a loyalty solution to grow and engage with their customers in a whole new way.

Pine Labs raised $150 million from Alpha Wave in 2022, valuing the company at approximately $5 billion. While the company initially planned an overseas IPO, it was postponed due to volatile market conditions. 

Pine Labs had joined an increasing number of startups planning to move their domiciles or do a reverse flip to the country. Many Indian startups domiciled abroad are considering shifting their base or reverse-flipping to India. These include companies, such as PhonePe and Groww, engaged in areas such as fintech, e-commerce, stock broking, health care, and edtech.