Urban Company sets IPO price band that pegs its valuation at $1.7 billion

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Mumbai: Urban Company Ltd. has decided on an IPO price band that pegs its valuation at $1.7 billion at the top end, underscoring the sky-high networth that new-age companies are garnering in India.

A barber at work for Urban Company. The Urban Company IPO will open for bids on 10 September for at least three days, with an anchor placement on 9 September.(HT)

The Urban Company IPO includes a fresh issue of shares worth ₹472 crore as well as an offer for sale worth ₹1,428 crore by existing shareholders, according to the red-herring prospectus.

The IPO price band is set at ₹98-103 apiece, at the upper end of which the company is valued at about ₹15,000 crore (about $1.7 billion). The lot size is set at 145 shares or multiples thereof.

The proceeds from the fresh issue will be used for new technology and cloud infrastructure, lease payments for its offices, marketing activities, and general stuff. The listing will give partial exits to early backers Accel India, Elevation Capital and Tiger Global, while funding marketing and technology upgrades.

75% of the issue size has been reserved for qualified institutional buyers, 15% for non-institutional investors and the remaining 10% for retail investors.

The Urban Company IPO will open for bids on 10 September for at least three days, with an anchor placement on 9 September.

“The company has its act together, it is profitable, and what also stands out beyond the technology is its expansion into Tier-II and Tier-III cities where aspirations run higher,” Arun Kejriwal, founder of Kejriwal Research and Investment Services, told Reuters.

Founded in 2014 as UrbanClap, Urban Company has grown into India's largest home and beauty services app, offering everything from facials to plumbing repairs. It has scaled up by tapping the rising demand for professional help via smartphone and lists over 48,000 active service professionals on its roster, according to its website.

While it has expanded to the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Singapore, India remains its core market, contributing about 90% of revenue.

When the company filed its draft papers in April, it sought to raise less than the ₹528 crore its board had cleared, trimming ambitions amid market turbulence fueled by US President Donald Trump's trade policies.

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