Fintech unicorn Pine Labs files DRHP with SEBI for Rs 2,600 crore IPO

Pine Labs, the Noida-based payments and merchant commerce platform, has filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), aiming to raise Rs 2,600 crore through a combination of fresh issue and offer for sale (OFS) of up to 147.8 million equity shares.

The public issue marks a pivotal moment for one of India’s oldest fintech startups, founded in 1998, as it prepares to join the ranks of publicly listed digital payments companies such as Paytm and Mobikwik. Pine Labs’ listing will be on both the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

Among the major shareholders participating in the OFS are Peak XV Partners (formerly Sequoia Capital India), Temasek's Macritchie Investments, PayPal, Mastercard, Invesco, Actis, and Madison India. Cofounder Lokvir Kapoor and top executives, including CEO Amrish Rau and Chief Business Officer Kush Mehra, will also dilute part of their holdings.

According to the DRHP, Peak XV will offload the largest tranche, around 3.9 crore shares—approximately 26.3% of the total OFS. PayPal plans to divest over 1.15 crore shares, Mastercard around 1 crore, and Temasek 1.48 crore. PayPal, Temasek, Actis, and Mastercard each hold over 5% in the company.

The DRHP also outlines a pre-IPO placement provision of up to Rs 520 crore, which, if exercised, will proportionally reduce the size of the fresh issue. Axis Capital, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, J.P. Morgan, and Jefferies are acting as the book-running lead managers.

Pine Labs, which recently merged its Singapore operations into its Indian entity ahead of the IPO, said proceeds from the fresh issue will be deployed towards debt repayment, expansion in Southeast Asia and West Asia, and investments in technology and strategic acquisitions. The company plans to allocate Rs 60 crore specifically for international expansion, including senior hiring and strengthening its regulatory-compliant tech stack.

For the first nine months of fiscal 2025, Pine Labs posted operating revenue of Rs 1,208 crore, a 23% increase from Rs 982 crore in the same period last year. It reported a net profit of Rs 26 crore, marking a return to profitability after a net loss of Rs 151 crore a year earlier. Expenses remained largely under control, growing modestly to Rs 1,238 crore from Rs 1,205 crore.

As of December 2024, Pine Labs served 915,731 merchants, 666 consumer brands and enterprises, and 164 financial institutions. The company processed Rs 7.5 lakh crore worth of transactions during the period, a sharp 68% jump from Rs 4.4 lakh crore the previous year.