BENGALURU, Dec 28 Reuters India39;s FirstCry parent on Thursday filed for an initial public offering to raise 18.16 billion rupees 218 million, making it the first pureplay baby products and childcare retailer to go public in the country.

FirstCry39;s parent Brainbees Solutions will sell fresh shares in the IPO and so will other investors, including its biggest shareholder SoftBank, which held a 25.5 share in the company as of Dec. 27, draft IPO papers showed.

SoftBank, which will sell 20.3 million shares at the IPO, sold a stake worth 6 billion rupees in FirstCry this week, according to multiple media reports.

Other investors in FirstCry, including techtotractors firm Mahindra And Mahindra and U.S. private equity fund TPG, will also sell stakes.

The total size of the IPO was not immediately clear.

The childcare products market in India is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 1314 to reach 4.5 trillion rupees4.8 trillion rupees in 2027 as parents are increasingly shifting their preferences towards branded goods, according to Redseer Research.

FirstCry, which competes in certain segments with Shoppers Stop, Hopscotch and Flipkartowned Myntra, saw its losses widen sixfold in fiscal 20222023 due to rising costs.

The company plans to use funds from the IPO to expand its network in India and Saudi Arabia, and to clear leases for existing Indian stores. It has 936 stores in India.

Robust economic growth and hope that Indian Prime Minister Narendra…