By Aditya Kalra and Indranil Sarkar
NEW DELHI, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Big investors including
Norway's sovereign wealth fund Norges and Fidelity have placed
bids worth more than $15 billion in Swiggy's India IPO, 25 times
the $605 million portion reserved for such investors, four
sources told Reuters on Thursday.
Swiggy, a SoftBank-backed Indian food and grocery delivery
giant, will next week launch its $1.35 billion IPO that will be
country's second-biggest stock offering this year. The bidding
process is ongoing.
After a recent correction in stock markets, the company has
reduced its estimated valuation from the IPO to $11.3 billion,
25% less than an earlier estimation of $15 billion.
Signalling growing interest in India's food delivery and
"quick commerce" space - where goods are delivered in 10 minutes
- the IPO anchor book reserved for big investors has already
received bids worth more than $15 billion, said the sources, who
declined to be named as the process is confidential.
Top investors include Norway's sovereign wealth fund Norges
Bank Investment Management, Fidelity International and
U.S.-based Capital Group, said three of the sources. The fourth
source said BlackRock ( BLK ) and the Canada Pension Plan
Investment Board are also among investors.
None of the investors or Swiggy immediately
responded to a request for comment.
Research firm Datum Intelligence expects quick commerce
sales in India to hit $6 billion this year, up from $100 million
in 2020.
Indian companies including Swiggy, main rival Zomato
and billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance are
betting big on the quick commerce concept as they jostle to
deliver everything from milk to cosmetics to iPhones within
minutes, outpacing peers like Amazon ( AMZN ) on delivery times.