India set for stronger tech, media and telecom IPOs as China falters

New Delhi, Feb. 18 (IANS): While new regulations have severely hit China in the global tech, media and telecom (TMT) IPO market, the Indian TMT IPO pipeline is getting stronger and will continue to gain prominence this year, a new report showed on Friday.

Between 2018 and 2020, there were 15 TMT IPOs in India. Last year alone, 15 Indian TMT companies went public and raised a total proceeds of USD 4.8 billion, reveals data and analytics company GlobalData.

“Consumer-facing tech companies are the biggest beneficiaries of the increasing digital adoption in India. As a result, e-commerce and fintech were the top themes driving TMT IPOs in 2021,” said Swati Verma, Associate Project Manager of Thematic Research at GlobalData.

In 2021, listings were centred on Internet-driven themes like e-commerce and fintech.

These themes will continue to gain prominence as digital adoption in the country further gathers momentum and eventually result in more successful listings in 2022.

Paytm’s listing in November 2021 was the biggest TMT IPO ever in India, when it raised proceeds of USD 2.5 billion.

“Aptus Value Housing (Loan solutions), Mobikwik (digital payments), Naapbooks (fintech solution), and Policybazaar (insuretech) were the other notable fintech players that went public in 2021,” said Verma.

Zomato’s IPO, raising USD 1.3 billion, was the second biggest listing during the year.

CarTrade (online car selling platform), Easy Trip (online ticket booking) and Nykaa (online beauty and wellness) were the other e-commerce companies which went public last year.

PharmEasy (healthtech), Delhivery (e-commerce), Oyo Rooms (online hotel booking), and Tracxn (big data) have all filed for IPOs.

Other big IPOs expected on the Indian exchanges include Ola Cabs (ride sharing) and Swiggy (online food delivery).

“Walmart-owned e-commerce player Flipkart, for example, is preparing for a listing in the US Edtech major Byju’s also plans to list in the US by merging with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC),” said Verma.

Meanwhile, in China, regulatory crackdown shrunk the country’s share in the global tech, media and Telecom (TMT) IPO market by 9 per cent last year.

China’s regulatory onslaught has negatively impacted the tech TMT IPO market as the regulators created headwinds for companies wanting to go public in the country.

Newly imposed rules require Chinese companies to comply with a set of national laws and regulations and to ensure data security.