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SoftBank-backed Swiggy filed papers on Thursday for an initial public offering, which a source said would be worth $1.25 billion, as the food delivery firm looks to tap a booming stock market in one of India's biggest listings this year.

Swiggy is selling shares worth 37.5 billion rupees ($448.56 million), while existing shareholders including Prosus, Accel India and Tencent Europe will sell about 185.3 million shares, the company said in its draft prospectus.

The Bengaluru-based startup is targeting a valuation of $15 billion through the offering, said the source, who had direct knowledge of the matter.

Swiggy's last funding round, led by asset manager Invesco in 2022, valued it at $10.7 billion.

Swiggy did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The company competes with Zomato in India's online food deliveries sector, and is looking to beef up its quick commerce business as the rivals jostle to deliver everything from groceries to higher-margin electronics in 10 minutes - a business model that is reshaping how Indians shop.

The IPO also comes as India's stock markets surged to record highs recently, with about 235 companies raising more than $8.6 billion - more than double the amount raised last year, LSEG data showed.

Swiggy has chosen a good time to come to the market, said WealthMills Securities equity strategist Kranthi Bathini, noting that investor sentiment towards IPOs was strong.

"It will also attract extra interest from the investors because of the outperformance of Zomato in the recent past," Bathini said.

The company plans to use proceeds from the IPO to invest in its quick commerce business, open more warehouses, repay debt and build its technology infrastructure, according to the prospectus.

It posted a net loss of 23.5 billion rupees in the year ended March 30, 2024, about 44% smaller than a year earlier. Revenue climbed about 36% to 112.47 billion rupees.

While food delivery still brings in about half of all revenues, Swiggy, like Zomato, is placing major bets on its quick commerce business, which saw its revenue double to 9.79 billion rupees in fiscal 2024.

Swiggy's Instamart is India's No.2 in the quick commerce segment with an estimated market share of 20-25%, behind Zomato-owned Blinkit which has 40-45%, according to a UBS note released in August.

Shares of Zomato, which went public in July 2021, have more than doubled this year to a valuation of nearly $30 billion.

Zepto, another quick commerce rival, recently raised $340 million, valuing it at $5 billion. Other competitors include Tata Group's BigBasket and Walmart-owned Flipkart's quick commerce offering "Minutes", launched in August.