PharmEasy, India's largest e-pharmacy platform, is preparing to file draft papers by October in preparation for an Initial Public Offering (IPO) later this fiscal year, according to sources. This comes as talks with Japan's SoftBank for a new investment round have fallen down.

According to the sources, PharmEasy is on track for an IPO but is still in talks with new investors to raise between $200 million and $300 million at a valuation of $5.6 billion.

PharmEasy's parent company, API Holdings, was valued at $4.2 billion in June.
It remained unclear who the potential new investors were or whether such a deal would conclude before the company filed the Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) with India's capital markets regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). API Holdings is collaborating on the DRHP with JM Financial and Kotak Investment Banking, after the two banks assisted in the acquisition of diagnostics chain Thyrocare in June.

The company has raised about $650 million in the last several months from investors such as Prosus (formerly Naspers), B Capital, TPG, and others.
"PharmEasy wants to set a new valuation benchmark before the IPO. They are looking to submit IPO papers by October and then list in the next couple of months. It may spill over to next year, but the aim is to list before the end of the current financial year," sources said.

Since PharmEasy's promoters are aiming at a valuation of over $5 billion, the conversation between SoftBank and PharmEasy has been deadlocked for a few months.

PharmEasy is the only significant independent company left after Reliance Industries bought more than 60% of e-pharmacy startup Netmeds last year and the Tata Group bought 1mg in June. It purchased smaller rival Medlife last year, although the deal was only completed earlier this year.
The success of food delivery app Zomato's IPO in July, which set the ground for Indian online enterprises to go public this year, coincides with PharmEasy's IPO aspirations.