Food delivery and quick commerce leader Zomato Ltd has picked investment bank Morgan Stanley and begun working on its proposed qualified institutional placement (QIP) offering of up to Rs 8,500 crore (approximately $1 billion), people aware of the matter told Moneycontrol.

Zomato is looking at launching the QIP in December, depending on market conditions, they added.
One or two more investment banks may be added to the syndicate, the sources said. The eventual deal size could be in the $800 million to $1 billion range, they said.

A spokesperson for Zomato declined to comment. An email sent to Morgan Stanley did not elicit a response.
The Zomato QIP plan comes immediately after the mega Rs 11,327 crore IPO of its rival Swiggy Ltd, which listed on the bourses on November 13 with a 7.69 percent gain.

The stock debuted at Rs 420 per share on the NSE over the IPO price of Rs 390.

While Zomato’s stock price is down 9.6 percent from its 52-week high of Rs 298.2 as on September 24, so far this calendar year, the Zomato stock has seen an appreciation of almost 118 percent. Zomato’s stock closed at Rs 269.6 per share on the BSE on November 14, up 4.27 percent.