Mebigo Labs appoints bankers for a $200 million IPO

Mebigo Labs Pvt., operator of Indian audio platform Kuku FM, has hired banks for an initial public offering that could raise as much as $200 million, according to people familiar with the matter.The Mumbai-based company has Kotak Mahindra Capital Co., Axis Bank Ltd. and appointed Morgan Stanley’s India unit to manage the share sale, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. Proceeds from the offering are expected to support an expansion of Mebigo’s content library and deepen its offering in regional languages, they said.

Discussions are still ongoing and key details, including the size of the IPO, could still change, the people said. Representatives for Mebigo and the three banks did not respond to requests for comment.

The transaction adds to the frenetic activity in India’s primary market. Driven by strong retail participation and steady institutional interest, fundraising has already reached a record 1.77 trillion rupees ($19.6 billion) this year, surpassing last year’s total of 1.73 trillion rupees, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Founded in 2018 by Lal Chand Bisu, Vikas Goyal and Vinod Kumar Meena, Kuku FM offers audiobooks, stories and recaps in multiple Indian languages ​​and has more than 10 million paying subscribers, according to its website.

Mebigo recently raised $85 million from investors led by Granite Asia Capital Pte, with participation from Vertex Growth Fund, Krafton, IFC, Paramark Ventures, Tribe Capital India and Bitkraft Ventures, MoneyControl reported in October.