Singapore's GIC gets CCI approval to buy stake in IPO-bound Groww

Viggo Investment, a subsidiary of Singapore's sovereign fund GIC, has received approval of Competition Commission of India (CCI) to acquire stake in the Billionbrains Garage Ventures, the IPO-bound owner of stockbroker Groww.

GIC had approached the competition regulator in May, seeking approval for acquiring a 2.14% stake in the Bengaluru-based fintech startup. The investment is part of a larger funding round estimated at $250-300 million.



GIC is expected to lead the round with an infusion of around $150 million, while Groww has also engaged with existing investor Tiger Global to participate. ET had first reported on the financing on March 26.

Viggo Investment is a special purpose vehicle wholly owned by Enterprise Holdings, which in turn is held by GIC Ventures.

Groww recently closed a $250 million funding round led by GIC at a valuation of around $6.5 billion. On May 26, the company filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) for a public listing with the markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). The IPO size is estimated to be in the range of $700 million to $1 billion, people in the know told ET.

Diversification push

In the run-up to its IPO, Groww is planning to apply for an Online Bond Platform Provider (OBPP) licence and expand into offering corporate bond transactions through its mobile app, according to people in the know.

Groww, a Sebi-regulated stockbroker, already offers primary sale of freshly listed corporate bonds and will expand into offering trades in corporate bonds once it secures an OBPP licence, the people said.

This is part of the company’s broader strategy to go beyond core stockbroking services and become a full-stack financial services platform. From credit to wealth management and now bond distribution, Groww is slowly expanding its product suite as it prepares for a public listing.

This move will enable Groww to compete with other OBPPs, including Wint Wealth and Grip Invest. These platforms offer listed bonds through their mobile applications. These instruments are a more secured asset class than equity investments and typically offer higher rates of interest than banks’ fixed deposits.