In a significant move confirmed by CNBC-TV18's newsbreak, SoftBank's venture capital fund, SVF Growth (Singapore) Pte Ltd, has exited the popular online food delivery platform Zomato.
The stake sale involved a transaction of 9.36 crore shares at a trade price of ₹120.5 per share, amounting to a total value of ₹1,127.51 crore, as per exchange data.
Following SoftBank's exit, a cohort of prominent investors, including Citigroup, Fidelity Investment, Goldman Sachs, Invesco MF, ICICI Pru Life, Morgan Stanley, BNP Paribas, and others, seized the opportunity to acquire shares in Zomato.
This marks SoftBank's latest divestment of Zomato, with 1.1% stake sold for ₹1,040 crore in October this year. In August, SoftBank had also reduced its stake by 1.16% for ₹947 crore through an open market transaction.
Reports suggest that SoftBank initially acquired Zomato shares after the platform acquired Blinkit in August 2022. The lock-in period of 12 months for these shares expired in August this year, prompting SoftBank to initiate the offloading process.
Despite the divestments, Zomato has demonstrated financial resilience, reporting a net profit of ₹36 crore for the September quarter. This stands in stark contrast with the net loss of ₹251 crore during the same quarter last year.
The company's revenue for the period experienced a robust 72% year-on-year growth, reaching ₹2,848 crore from ₹1,661 crore. On a sequential basis, Zomato's revenue grew by 18%, while the operating loss remained relatively stable.
Shares of Zomato Ltd ended at ₹119.90, down by ₹1.90, or 1.56%, on the BSE.
(Edited by : Shoma Bhattacharjee)
First Published: Dec 8, 2023 8:23 PM IST
