Network18-backed TV and E-commerce company HomeShop18 has withdrawn its $75 million IPO on the New York Stock Exchange, around seven months after the initial application.
HomeShop18 mentions that it is not proceeding with this offering since it is currently re-evaluating its capital raising strategy. It also notes that the company may undertake a subsequent private offering as per Rule 155(C) (pdf) that allows companies to convert its public offerings as private placement without waiting for the requisite six months period.
This withdrawal comes within months of Reliance Industries acquiring Network18, although it’s worth noting that HomeShop18 CEO Sundeep Malhotra had told employees that this acquisition wouldn’t affect their offering however three board members from Network18 would change. Network18 currently owns 53.71% in Homeshop18, and has invested $53.8 million in the business.
Interestingly, in the following months, Reliance Industries-owned Reliance Retail has announced plans to enter the e-commerce space this year while HomeShop18 has stopped selling books online.
Financials: HomeShop18 had reported net revenues of Rs 368.2 crore for the financial year ended March 31, 2014 (FY14), registering a 63.4% increase from Rs 225.4 crore revenues in the previous year. The losses also had improved to Rs 83.9 crore for the year, from Rs 120 crore in the previous year.
Besides Network18, the company has investors like SAIF II Mauritius Company Limited, G S Home Shopping Inc, Makira SP5 limited and Orchard Centar Master limited.
HomeShop18 had filed for a $75 million IPO on NYSE in April this year and had noted that it will not receive any proceeds from the sale of ordinary shares by Network18 Holdings Limited and other selling shareholders. Instead, it will receive the rupee equivalent of $42.3 million of the proceeds which Network18 Holdings Limited expects to receive from its sale of ordinary shares in this offering. Following this, HomeShop18 will be using these funds to purchase the equity interest in its Indian subsidiary currently held by Network18 within 45 days of the completion of this offering.
The company had also noted that it may use a part of these proceeds for acquisitions or strategic investments in technologies, solutions or businesses that complements the company’s business, although it currently doesn’t have any such commitments.
Competitors are raising significant investment: It’s also worth noting that HomeShop18’s competitors Flipkart and Snapdeal have both raised significant investment in the past year. Flipkart had raised $1 billion co-led by existing investors Tiger Global & Naspers while Snapdeal had raised $627 million from SoftBank a fortnight ago. Amazon had also announced that it will invest an additional $2 billion in India to support its growth and improve the customer & seller experience in the country.
