Truck aggregator BlackBuck, backed by Accel and Flipkart, has filed its IPO with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to raise ₹550 crore by the issue of fresh shares with Axis Capital, Morgan Stanley, JM Financial, and IIFL Securities being the book running lead managers.
The Bengaluru-headquartered startups’s move came one month after the approval of the board and shareholders of the parent company Zinka Logistics Solutions. The Bengaluru-based startup had aimed to raise $300 million in FY25 and go public by the end of the same period.
The public issue includes an offer for sale (OFS) of 21.6 million shares by the existing shareholders with co-founders and promoters Rajesh Yabaji, Chanakya Hridaya, and Rama Subramaniam selling 2.2 million shares, 1.1 million shares, and 1.1 million shares, respectively. The largest shareholder in the firm, Accel, with a 17% stake in the firm, will sell 4.3 million shares and 923,282 shares through its two entities in the OFS, Singapore-based Quickroutes International which holds 12.97% stakes, will sell 3.9 million shares, while World Bank-backed International Finance Corporation will sell 1.7 million shares and 628,315 shares through its two units in the OFS.
US-based Sands Capital will sell 1.3 million shares, 514,745 shares, and 302,328 shares, respectively, through its three units in the OFS. Additionally, Venture funds Tiger Global Management will also sell 883,322, Peak XV Partners to sell 640,409 shares, and B Capital will sell 529,993 shares in the OFS, taking the total to 21.6 million as said earlier.
The draft red herring prospectus revealed that, Of the total amount raised through the fresh issue of shares, BlackBuck will spend ₹200 crore on sales and marketing, ₹75 crore on product development, and invest Rs 140 crore in its non-bank financial company (NBFC) subsidiary, BlackBuck Finserve to finance the expansion of its capital base.
The logistics platform has risen as the largest truck operator in India, accounting for 27% of the market share. The logistics platform was founded in 2015 by Yabaji, Hridaya, and Subramaniam, offering inter-city full truckload transportation services in an online B2B marketplace.
As of March 31, 2024, the firm had a total of 963,345 truck operators with its monthly transacting truck operators on its BlackBuck App in FY24 being 597,638, from 458,025 in the last fiscal year. Its losses fell 33% from ₹290 crore in last fiscal year to ₹193.9 crore in FY24.
The startup’s revenue from operations surged by 69% ₹175.6 crore in FY23 to ₹296.9 crore in the fiscal year ended March 2024. The startup has raised more than $360 Mn in funding to date and has become a unicorn with its latest funding coming in 2021 worth $67 million in a round led by Tribe Capital, IFC Emerging Asia Fund, and VEF.
