Excl: Digital media firm ValueFirst looking to raise $50M

Digital media firm ValueFirst Messaging Pvt Ltd is looking to raise another round of funding in the range of $50 million (Rs 271.85 crore), before going for an IPO.

ValueFirst, which recently acquired way2sms and mGinger, both in all-cash deals, is also looking to list soon.

In an exclusive chat with Techcircle, ValueFirst CEO Kumar Apoorv said the company was looking to close to $50 million in the near future, which will be deployed purely for acquisitions. ValueFirst is totally profitable and can support itself, but wouldn't want to miss out on good acquisition opportunities for the lack of extra handy capital, he said.  A lot of investors, who are in talks with the company,  have evinced keen interest in ValueFirst, he said.

In 2011, it had received a funding of Rs 70 crore ($12.9 million) from Headland Capital Partners, which was formerly known as HSBC Private Equity (Asia) Ltd.

"The market is not favourable yet for an IPO. Even bigger organisations like JustDial have postponed their IPO. The size and growth which we are seeing right now we could have easily gone for an IPO but the question is timing," Apoorv said.

"So, for the time being, we need to ensure that we have significant reserves just to take advantage of an opportunity that might come.

So, this fund is basically to ensure that on our way to the IPO we don't miss out on any good opportunity that might come," said Apoorv.

The company is looking to become one of the biggest names in digital media in the coming years, he said. Going by the market trends, Apoorv said, the company would look for acquisitions in the mobile internet, apps and data segment.

Watch out this space for an exclusive tete-a-tete.

(Edited by Prem Udayabhanu)