Hiranandani's Yotta/Nidar Terminates SPAC Merger with Cartica, Pivots to India IPO in FY27
SPAC Deal Ends: Yotta/Nidar Shifts from US Markets to India IPO
On January 7, 2026, Cartica Acquisition Corp, Nidar Infrastructure Limited and Yotta Data and Cloud Limited formally terminated their previously announced merger agreement, unwinding the planned business combination and related lock-up and support arrangements.
The termination closes a 19-month chapter that had begun with the parties entering into an Agreement and Plan of Merger on June 24, 2024, as amended on December 31, 2024 to extend the deal's deadline. Yotta Data Services formally withdrew its plan to merge with the Nasdaq listed special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Cartica Acquisition, despite receiving all regulatory approvals.
Financial Settlement and Cartica's Liquidation
Nidar will fund Cartica's deal costs and Cartica's sponsor receives Nidar convertible securities. More specifically, Cartica's sponsor received a $21.9 million convertible note and a warrant from Nidar that give the sponsor equity-linked upside tied to any future qualified equity offering by Nidar or its affiliates.
Nidar agreed to pay Cartica an aggregate of $7,000,000 in seven equal monthly installments, referred to as Expense Payments, beginning on January 31, 2026 and ending on July 31, 2026. Because the business combination will not close, Cartica cannot complete a transaction by its February 7, 2026 deadline. On that date it will cease operations except for winding up, then redeem all Class A public shares for cash from the trust account and proceed to liquidate.
Strategic Pivot: India-First IPO in FY27
Yotta has formally withdrawn its planned merger with Cartica Acquisition Corp and will prioritise an India IPO in FY27. The move comes despite regulatory clearances obtained in late 2025 for the US transaction.
The company, part of the Hiranandani Group, is positioning the float to fund accelerated investments in GPUs, cloud and new data centre capacity as AI workloads surge in India. According to Yotta's chief executive, "Our current plan is to raise capital in India first. If everything goes well, next financial year is when we could be coming to the market," Sunil Gupta said.
The company framed the timeline as FY27 (April 2026–March 2027), aligning the offer window with ongoing capacity build-outs.
Pre-IPO Capital Raise
The Hiranandani Group-backed company is aiming to raise approximately $500 million to $600 million in a pre-IPO funding round. This will precede the filing of its draft prospectus for an initial public offering (IPO).
Investment banks managing the offering include the local arms of Nomura Holdings and Goldman Sachs Group, as well as ICICI Securities and Kotak Securities. Potential investors in the pre-IPO round include sovereign wealth funds such as Mubadala Investment Company, along with several family offices of prominent Indian billionaires.
The company has reportedly received in-principle approval for the listing and is currently awaiting final clearance from the Securities and Exchange Board of India.
The India-First Case
Yotta has chosen to pursue a domestic listing in India, aligning with its "India-first" strategy. The company has emphasised that a significant portion of its assets, customers, and long-term growth prospects are anchored in India.
Leadership has framed India's domestic investor base as naturally positioned to back a data infrastructure operator anchored in sovereign cloud and AI demand. The Hiranandani Group's broader infrastructure footprint—spanning real estate, education, healthcare, and now digital infrastructure—spans multiple Indian cities.
About Yotta and Hiranandani Group
Founded in 2019, Yotta Data Services is the data centre and cloud infrastructure arm of Hiranandani Group's Nidar Infrastructure platform. The company was established with a clear strategic objective: to build hyperscale, sovereign, AI-ready data centre infrastructure across India and selected regional markets.
Established in 1978, Hiranandani Group is one of the most prestigious real estate developers based in Mumbai. Hiranandani Group has the vision of creating a new India with self-sufficient and enduring townships. The group is one of the largest real estate developers in India with projects across Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, and Hyderabad. The group has diversified into health, education, energy, and hospitality.