Livspace plans India return, eyes 2025 IPO

livemint.com:

MUMBAI : Livspace, a new-age home interiors solutions provider backed by private equity firm KKR, is planning to shift its domicile back to India, and list on local stock exchanges. Currently based in Singapore, the firm has initiated internal processes with the aim to go public in 2025, three people in the know of the development said. The company is looking to hit profitability by the end of the current financial year and is eyeing a listing opportunity in 2025, one of the three people cited above said, seeking anonymity.

In February 2022, Livspace raised $180 million in a funding round led by KKR at a valuation of $1.2 billion, to join the coveted unicorn club. The startup has so far raised about $450 million. “It has begun work internally and is likely to apply for regulatory approvals and flip back the company in the next 9-12 months," the second person said.

Livspace joins a long list of startups that domiciled overseas with the hope of targeting global pools of capital, but want to now flip back to India. This move is fuelled by the dynamic and robust nature of the domestic equity capital market. Other startups considering a pivot to India includes PhonePe, Razorpay, PineLabs and Groww among others.

“A majority of these companies feel, their story will be best understood in a market where they have established a customer base. Valuations too have improved domestically," the second person added. Livspace, founded in 2014 by Ramakant Sharma and Anuj Srivastava, is an omni-channel home interiors and renovation platform with operations across Southeast Asia, India and the Middle East.