Omnichannel retailer FirstCry plans a set of sovereign funds to ease some of its shareholders to sell a stake in the company costing $3 billion, as per the media report. This started after deal talks with private equity firm Kedaara Capital fell months ago. While discussions continue, it added that the funding is primed as a pre-IPO round for the Pune-based startup.

The officials said that Masayoshi Son-led SoftBank, omnichannel’s largest shareholder and retailer of mother and baby products, are anticipated to sell a stake of its 29% holding if the deal happens. Sale of secondary sales worth $100 million is likely to be formalised, said these people who kept the discussions private.

FirstCry may plan to introduce additional domestic capital to shore up local ownership in the company. As a multi-brand retailer, the company must follow the nation’s foreign investment rules, keeping foreign holding under 51%. Like Nykaa, FirstCry is an Indian-owned and controlled company with domestic funds owning common shares.

FirstCry has been in continued talks to slender its foreign holding before it drives public, shoring up capital from Premji Invest. Last year, the company made plans to file its draft IPO papers but delayed them when the markets turned uneven.