FirstCry to acquire BabyOye

Online Baby products seller FirstCry is acquiring Mahindra Retail, which runs offline stores under BabyOye brand, for about Rs 362 crore in a landmark deal in the Indian Retail Market. The Pune based startup will acquire the franchisee division of Mahindra Retail, part of the $18 Billion software to automobiles conglomerates Mahindra and Mahindra.

The deal is a stock transaction, under which FirstCry owner Brainbees Solutions will issue shares worth Rs 355 crore to Mahindra Group and pay Rs 7.5 crore in cash. The deal will help FirstCry, which already has 180 franchised stores; create one of the largest Omni-channel retail plays in the country, with a strong presence both online and offline. As a part of transaction, FirstCry has also raised Rs 226 crore in fresh funding form Mahindra Group and Switzerland Adveq, besides existing backers like IDG Ventures India, SAIF Partners, NEA and Vertex.

Mahindra Retail had expanded into the online baby care market last year with acquisition of BabyOye and also rebranded its offline stores from Mom & Me to the online brand. It has over 120 stores that are a combination of large format, high street and mall locations and hospital stores. Mahindra Retail acquired BabyOye.com in February 2015. FirstCry.com will have a parent base of over 4 Million, a footprint of over 300 stores spread across 125 cities.