SoftBank-backed Eruditus plans to move to India from Singapore for an IPO | IPO News – Business Standard
SoftBank-backed Indian education technology company Eruditus plans to shift its base from Singapore to India for a stock market listing, its CEO said. Reuters.
Eruditus’ edtech platform offers thousands of online courses from more than 80 universities, including Harvard, on topics such as artificial intelligence, data science and software coding, competing with NYSE-listed Coursera.
“The rich multiples of the Indian equity markets, and that there is so much liquidity and capital, makes an IPO in India more attractive,” CEO Ashwin Damera said in an interview on the sidelines of an Indian edtech conference near New Delhi.
Although the company has started work on an Indian IPO, Damera says a possible listing is at least two years away.
India’s $4 trillion stock market has attracted billions of dollars in domestic and foreign money as investors flock to a fast-growing alternative to China.
IPOs in India surpassed listings in Hong Kong last year despite a 16% decline, and momentum is growing this year on hopes of political stability after the upcoming elections this year, Reuters reports.
India’s benchmark stock indices rose nearly 20% in 2023, surpassing many global indices.
Many Indian companies have registered abroad in recent years, in countries such as Singapore, hoping for better and easier access to capital.
However, recent strength in Indian markets, better access to capital and an improved regulatory environment are causing some companies to relocate to India as a prerequisite for a local listing.
However, such steps have tax consequences. Walmart said last year it had paid the Indian government nearly $1 billion in taxes after Indian digital payments company PhonePe moved its headquarters from Singapore to India.
According to sources with direct knowledge, Eruditus has already appointed accounting firm EY to manage and advise on the move. EY did not respond to questions from Reuters.
The Indian company is also currently evaluating four to five companies for acquisitions, with the aim of increasing its talent pool, the CEO added.
Eruditus has raised $585 million in primary capital to date, with Accel and Prosus as investors. It reported revenues of 33.20 billion rupees ($400.3 million) for the financial year ending June 2023, up 75% from a year earlier.
(Only the headline and image of this report may have been reworked by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
First print: February 13, 2024 | 12:16 pm IST