Messaging and voice application programming interface (API) company Route Mobile Ltd has received regulatory nod to float an initial public offering (IPO).
The proposed IPO, if it turns out a success, will make Route the first company in the mobile communication services space to go public.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) issued final observations to Route’s IPO proposal on 16 August (last Thursday), according to the website of the capital markets regulator.
With this nod, a total of 39 companies have received SEBI approval for IPOs in 2018. As many as 46 companies had received clearance for IPOs in 2017, according to SEBI’s website.
Route had filed its draft prospectus with SEBI on 22 January. The IPO comprises of fresh shares worth Rs 350 crore as well as 6.5 million shares of promoters Sandipkumar Gupta and Rajdipkumar Gupta.
Mobile-related companies
In December 2010, One97 Communications Ltd, the parent of e-payments and e-commerce firm Paytm, had filed a draft prospectus with SEBI for a Rs 120 crore IPO but postponed its fundraising plans, citing volatile market conditions.
A handful of mobile-related companies are looking to go public in India to benefit from the boom in the stock markets. Mumbai-based mobile gaming developer Nazara Technologies Ltd is slated to go public this year https://www.vccircle.com/westbridge-capital-backed-gaming-firm-nazara-tech-gets-sebi-nod-for-ipo/.
Singapore-based Affle Holdings Pte. Ltd, which provides mobile commerce and marketing solutions for consumers and businesses, is looking to list its India unit this financial year.
Route Mobile
Motilal Oswal Investment Advisors, IDBI Capital Markets & Securities and Yes Securities (India) are managing Route Mobile’s IPO.
The company was incorporated in 2004. It is among the leading cloud-communication platform service providers to enterprises, over-the-top (OTT) players and mobile network operators.
Its service offerings include messaging, voice, email and SMS filtering, analytics and monetisation. It caters to sectors such as banking and financial services, aviation, retail, e-commerce, logistics, healthcare, hospitality, media and entertainment, pharmaceuticals and telecom.
Route Mobile claims to have more than 23,000 clients as on 31 December 2017.
The company was ranked second worldwide as a Tier-I application-to-peer service provider, and first for value-added services, implementation process and uptime performance. The rankings were given out by ROCCO, a consulting and research company in the telecommunication industry.
Route operates through eight direct and seven step-down subsidiaries serving its clients in 15 locations across Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe, West Asia (the Middle East) and North America.
As part of its strategy of pursuing inorganic growth, the company had acquired Mumbai-based Cellent Technologies in July 2016.
The company then acquired Defero Mobile as well as Call2Connect, before buying Malta, Europe-based SMS firewall solutions provider 365squared for Rs 100 crore.
Route’s business can be divided into three parts—enterprise and OTT, mobile operator as well as business process outsourcing (BPO).
Its enterprise and OTT vertical provides cloud-communication platform services to enterprises. These services include A2P messaging, enterprise email sender and voice application services. Other voice services include interactive voice response, missed call facility, outbound dialler and international wholesale voice services.
Its services to mobile operators include SMS filtering, analytics and monetisation, and hub solutions. Through its BPO vertical, the company provides a range of voice, non-voice and consulting services.
