India has, in the past, been called the “next China” for possessing some of the same growth potential and investment opportunities. The truthfulness of this claim was supported recently when Chinese authorities began cracking down on its tech sector giants, prompting investors to look elsewhere for a more reliable home for their money. Coincidently, Indian tech companies are currently experiencing a boom, with Paytm (NSE: PAYTM) and Zomato (NSE: ZOMATO) going public in 2021 and producing some of the country’s largest IPOs to date.
While opportunities can be found outside India’s stock exchanges, I want to explore these regulated markets and upcoming IPOs in this article.
India’s stock exchanges
India is home to eight stock markets with its listed companies worth a combined US $3.46 trillion. To put this into perspective, UK listed companies are worth a total of US $3.59 trillion, less than US $100 billion more than the former British colony. By 2024, Indian listed companies are projected to surpass the value of UK companies’ value and hit approximately US $5.00 trillion.
Hosting these companies are the countries well-known exchanges, including the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and National Stock Exchange (NSE), and the Multi-Commodity Exchange (MCX)
3 Indian IPOs to watch in 2022
Snapdeal IPO
Snapdeal is an Indian e-commerce platform catering to the country’s growing middle class, similar to the US’s Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) or China’s Alibaba (HKG: 9988).
The Company is said to be ready to file preliminary documents signalling its intent to IPO next year at a valuation of approximately US $1.50 billion. Snapdeal is currently backed by Japan’s Softbank (TYO: 9984) and China’s Alibaba Group, which are expected to continue to hold significant stakes after the Company’s IPO.
Data Patterns (India) IPO
Data Patterns has developed a vast array of electronic systems for the defence and aerospace sectors for the past 35 years.
The Company filed to IPO with regulators in September 2021, expecting to raise ₹700 crores, or US $100 million, to help it repay debt and aid expansion. The funds will assist Data Patterns to deliver on its order book, which has grown by 40.7% over the past four years.
Data Patterns is seeking a valuation of US $340 million when it goes public. However, no official date has been scheduled for its IPO.
MapMyIndia IPO
The digital mapping company, headquartered in Delhi, MapMyIndia, develops mapping technology used by some of the world’s largest companies.
MapMyIndia has received approval (as of the last week of November) from the country’s financial authority to go public. The Company is perhaps the highest-profile Company on this list, with business relationships with US tech giants Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Uber Technologies (NYSE: UBER), among others.
MapMyIndia is seeking a valuation of US $825 million when it IPOs, which it could do before the end of the year. The Company has expressed that the funds will, in part, be used to lift its marketing, helping it compete with the likes of Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL) and Dutch-based TomTom (AMS: TOM2).