BENGALURU: Fintech unicorn Razorpay has begun the process of relocating its headquarters from the US to India, amid a growing trend of startups shifting domicile back to the country. The transition aligns with government’s accelerated efforts to facilitate reverse flipping for Indian companies that are currently based overseas. The move also paves the way for Razorpay to go public by 2026.
Razorpay has initiated reversing its corporate structure despite significant tax implications, which industry observers say could be to the tune of $300 million. “There’s no challenge… it just takes time. The process is straightforward. We filed it through the fast checkout route. The National Company Law Tribunal process takes a while. The benches have a lot of cases to handle. The rules came out six months ago. We are testing the waters, but this is expected to be faster,” company co-founder & CEO Harshil Mathur told TOI.
Currently, the company is seeking RBI approval, which will help reduce the workload on the NCLT. “India understands what Razorpay does. It just made logical sense for us to list in the market where people know us. Flipping comes with a significant cost. But long-term, we feel it’s worth it,” Mathur added.
Industry insiders, however, told TOI that the new rules have brought down the timeline of reverse flipping to less than six months since ratification. “By law, there is a deemed approval from RBI that is automatically gained with compliance to the FEMA. The company then only requires approval from the regional director representing the Ministry of Corporate Affairs,” a corporate lawyer told TOI.
Razorpay – which is valued at $7.5 billion – has initiated discussions with investment bankers to get a grasp of the public offering.
