Eyewear retailer Lenskart promoters set to cash in on $830 million IPO

SoftBank-backed eyewear giant aims for $8 billion valuation as co-founders and early investors book multibillion-rupee gains

Eyewear retailer Lenskart’s public offering is set to deliver substantial returns for its promoters, as they are collectively selling shares worth around ₹1,100 crore.

 

Lenskart is all set to go public with the issue opening from October 31 to November 4, at a valuation of around $8 billion. The market debut is scheduled for November 10.

 

The SoftBank-backed firm has fixed a price band of ₹382–402 per share. The offer comprises a fresh issue of equity shares aggregating up to ₹2,150 crore and an offer for sale (OFS) of up to 127,562,573 equity shares by certain existing shareholders. The offer for sale is ₹4,875 crore, taking the total issue size to ₹7,025 crore. The company plans to raise as much as $830 million in what would be India’s fifth-largest IPO of the year. 

 

 

Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Peyush Bansal is poised to book ₹824 crore through the OFS while retaining a stake worth ₹6,140 crore. His sister and co-founder Neha Bansal holds shares valued at ₹5,116 crore, having sold ₹41 crore worth in the IPO.

 

Fellow co-founders Amit Chaudhary and Sumeet Kapahi will each realise ₹115 crore in proceeds, maintaining holdings valued at ₹551 crore and ₹532 crore, respectively.

 

Among institutional investors, SoftBank leads with ₹1,026 crore in OFS proceeds and a remaining stake worth ₹9,162 crore, marking a 5.4x return. Schroders Capital has made a full exit, locking in a 9.8x gain. Kedaara Capital follows with a 5.4x return on its ₹1,575 crore stake, while Temasek and Alpha Wave Global expect 4.1x and 3.8x returns, respectively.

 

Premji Invest stands out with one of the most lucrative exits, realising a 16.6x paper gain on its ₹3,124 crore holding.

 

Lenskart has raised a total of $1.08 billion in equity funding from investors and was valued at $6.1 billion till June this year, according to data from the platform Tracxn.

 

Globally and in India, Gurugram-based Lenskart competes with players such as Titan Eyeplus, Specsmakers, Vision Express, Warby Parker, and Italian eyewear giant Luxottica Group.

 

Founded in 2008, Lenskart launched online operations in 2010 and opened its first retail store in New Delhi in 2013. It now operates India’s largest eyewear retail network, with a presence across metros and smaller cities, as well as in Southeast Asia and West Asia.