Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], November 7 : Physics Wallah (PW) co-founder and whole-time director, Prateek Maheshwari on Friday said that the objective of bringing the company's Initial Public Offering (IPO) is to "have a larger reach, larger branding."
The edtech company's IPO will open to the public on November 11, with the listing date scheduled for November 18.
Speaking to ANI, Maheshwari said, "The main objective is to have a larger reach, larger branding because a public listed company seen with the eyes of more love and respect and that allows us to build a bigger brand in terms of parent trust and student trust."
Going further, Maheshwari stated that 90 per cent of the issue is primary and will help the company expand even more aggressively, while the remaining 10 per cent is an offer for sale (OFS).
He stated that none of the company's existing investors are selling, calling it "the first Indian internet IPO where none of the existing investors are selling."
"None of our existing investors are selling. That shows our confidence in terms of companies' current revenue growth as well as profitability growth. So this is the first Indian internet IPO where none of the existing investors are selling," he added.
Maheshwari informed that the proceeds from the IPO will support the company's plan to open 200 more centres in the next three years.
He added that while Physics Wallah already has "a large treasury," the funds "will allow us to expand into the southern part of the country."
"We have launched 11 different Indic languages. We have a very strong Hindi Heartland brand... but now we want to expand to southern part of the country as well," Maheshwari said.
Physics Wallah has a vast learner base, with "around 12 crore students attached to us on various social media channels." Maheshwari noted, "We are a household name in the country... especially grade 9, 10, 11, 12 science students."
When asked about attracting investors, Maheshwari said, "I don't think we have to put in extra efforts to attract retailers. We are a consumer internet company, a lot of our students and their families will raise their hands to come to our IPO."
The total offer size comprises a fresh issue of equity shares of face value of Rs 1 each aggregating up to Rs 3480 Crores. The IPO includes a fresh issue of equity shares of face value Rs 1 each aggregating up to Rs 3100 Crores and an offer for sale of equity shares of face value ₹1 each aggregating up to Rs 380 Crores.
The price band of the issue is fixed at Rs 103 to Rs 109 per equity share. The offer includes a discount of Rs 10 per Equity Share for Eligible Employees bidding in the Employee Reservation Portion. Bids can be made for a minimum of 137 Equity Shares and in multiples of 137 Equity Shares thereafter. The company proposes to utilise the net proceeds from the issue towards multiple strategic objectives.
Describing Physics Wallah as "a consumer internet play," Maheshwari said the focus is on affordability and reach, which has translated into strong growth and profitability. "Revenue jumped four times in just two years," he said, noting a 97% CAGR in revenue and 90% in EBITDA.
Looking ahead, Maheshwari said growth will come from "newer exam categories as well as going deeper into existing ones."
"For us, it's more important to focus on student outcomes, academic quality, and student NPS," Maheshwari concluded. "Growth, profit all these are byproducts because fundamentally a good education business is a good word-of-mouth business."
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