Cars24 is moving closer to a potential Indian stock-market debut as the used-car marketplace works to complete its corporate redomiciliation from Singapore to India.
The company expects the reverse-flip process to take approximately six to nine months, after which it could become eligible to submit a Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
CFO Shivanshu Makkar told PTI that Cars24 has already secured approval in Singapore and is now completing the required process in India.
Why Cars24 is moving its domicile to India
Cars24 was incorporated in Singapore in 2015. Before proceeding with its planned Indian IPO, the company is redomiciling its corporate structure to India.
Makkar described the process as a reverse flip and said the company expects it to take six to nine months. Once Cars24 becomes an Indian entity, it would be able to move forward with its DRHP.
“After the day we become an Indian entity is when we can file the DRHP.”
He added that Cars24 expects to be eligible to make that filing by April.
Because the comments were made in September 2026, that timeline points to April 2027.
April 2027 is not the IPO date
The distinction between filing for an IPO and actually listing is important.
April 2027 represents Cars24's current expectation for when it could become eligible to file its DRHP, assuming the reverse flip is completed as planned.
According to Makkar, after the DRHP is filed, the subsequent process involving SEBI approvals, pricing and book-building could take approximately another three to four months.
Cars24 has not announced a final IPO size, price band, issue structure or listing date.
IPO capital could fuel expansion across India
Cars24 says a potential IPO would not primarily be driven by an immediate need for operating cash.
Makkar said the company continues to have sufficient capital and has not raised an external funding round since 2022. Its last round valued Cars24 at approximately $3.3 billion on a post-money basis.
Instead, fresh capital from a public offering could provide Cars24 with additional resources to expand deeper into the Indian market.
The company currently operates its retail business across approximately 25 Indian cities, according to Makkar, who outlined the possibility of eventually reaching as many as 200 cities and expanding vehicle availability to around 50,000 cars. These figures represent management's expansion ambitions rather than announced operating targets.
Cars24 also looking beyond India
International growth forms another part of Cars24's strategy.
Makkar said the company has around a 7% share of the UAE used-car market and is growing there at nearly 30%. Cars24 has also expanded to three cities in Australia. These figures were provided by the company and should be understood as management-reported metrics.
What do Cars24's latest financials show?
Cars24's financial performance provides important context ahead of a potential IPO.
Its India entity recorded ₹5,091.7 crore in operating revenue in FY26, down 18.3% from ₹6,233.2 crore in FY25.
At the same time, its net loss narrowed by 18.7% to ₹441.1 crore, compared with ₹542.7 crore in FY25.
The revenue decline needs additional context. Cars24 shifted its wholesale business from an inventory-led model toward a commission-based model during FY26. Under the new approach, the company recognises the commission or fee generated from transactions rather than recording the entire vehicle sale value as revenue.
Cars24 had also said it achieved ₹20 crore of adjusted EBITDA in Q4 FY26.
Why an IPO matters beyond fundraising
Cars24's management is presenting the potential IPO as serving several purposes.
Alongside raising expansion capital, Makkar said a listing could provide liquidity to existing shareholders and some employees.
He also pointed to corporate governance as another reason for pursuing a public listing, arguing that becoming a listed company introduces additional governance scrutiny.
The CFO said Cars24 currently has no predetermined IPO valuation target, making it premature to assume that the company will seek the same valuation—or a particular premium to—the $3.3 billion valuation associated with its last funding round.
Cars24 joins a growing startup IPO pipeline
Cars24's preparations come amid a broader wave of Indian technology and consumer startups exploring public listings.
Inc42 reports that 29 startups had filed DRHPs and another 25 were at various stages of preparing IPO plans as of late September 2026.
Within the used-car sector, rival Spinny has confidentially filed IPO papers with SEBI and is reportedly considering raising approximately ₹2,500 crore to ₹3,000 crore, while CarDekho parent Girnar Software has also been preparing for a potential IPO.
That makes Cars24's proposed listing part of a wider transition in India's startup ecosystem, as mature privately funded companies increasingly consider domestic public markets for capital, shareholder liquidity and their next stage of growth.
What happens next?
The immediate milestone is not the IPO itself but completion of Cars24's Singapore-to-India reverse flip.
If that process progresses according to management's current timeline, Cars24 expects to become eligible to submit its DRHP around April 2027. It would then enter the regulatory and IPO preparation stages.
Until Cars24 formally files its DRHP, crucial details—including the issue size, fresh-issue/OFS structure, valuation, price band and listing timetable—remain undecided or undisclosed.
Sources
Primary reporting: Inc42 — Cars24 Eyes April 2027 Reverse Flip Ahead Of IPO Filing. The underlying CFO comments were reported from a PTI interview and were also carried by Business Standard and ETAuto. Financial figures were cross-checked against Inc42's reporting on Cars24's FY26 results.
