India’s Delhivery, a logistics company, has challenged the accuracy of numbers presented by its competitor Ecom Express in its initial public offering (IPO) filing. This is unusual, as companies usually avoid disagreements before listing.
Delhivery, which is already listed and backed by SoftBank, claims that Ecom Express has misrepresented Delhivery’s business metrics in its IPO filing. In particular, Delhivery is disputing the numbers presented for package shipping and cost per shipment.
The issue seems to be that Ecom Express is counting some shipments as two, while Delhivery only counts them as one. Delhivery also believes that Ecom Express is inflating its shipment figures. Additionally, Delhivery is questioning Ecom Express’s accounting methods for calculating cost per shipment.
Delhivery is also challenging Ecom Express’s claim that it offers services in 27,000 zip codes. However, India only has around 19,500 unique zip codes.
This public dispute has emerged just a few weeks after Ecom Express filed for an IPO, seeking to raise $310 million. Delhivery is also questioning Ecom Express’s presentation of certain financial metrics, such as service EBITDA and corporate costs.