Foodtech

SoftBank Vision Fund Sells 100M Zomato Shares at Rs 94.7 Each

• ByStartupStory     |    August 31, 2023

SoftBank Vision Fund (SVF) reduced its ownership stake in the prominent food delivery unicorn Zomato by 1.17%. The transaction involved the sale of 100 million shares at a unit price of Rs 94.7, executed through bulk deals as reported by Reuters. This puts the total value of the deal at Rs 947 crore. Zomato’s shares concluded the trading day at Rs 99.70, marking a 5.28% increase from the previous day’s closing price.

Several notable entities participated in the purchase of Zomato shares during this sale, including the International Monetary Fund, Morgan Stanley Asia Singapore, Societe Generale, Goldman Sachs (Singapore), Invesco Mutual Fund, and Kotak Mahindra Life Insurance.

Under the leadership of Masayoshi Son, the SoftBank investment firm had previously invested in Blinkit and acquired a 3.35% stake in Zomato through the food tech company’s merger with a grocery delivery platform. The shares were obtained at an implied value of Rs 70.76 per share. An agreement had subjected SoftBank, Sequoia Capital, and Tiger Global to a mandatory lock-in period, and these shares became tradable starting from August 25.

Tiger Global Management, a significant investor, completely divested from Zomato on Monday by selling all remaining shares for Rs 1,123.85 crore. The investment firm’s Internet Fund III PTE Ltd offloaded 12.34 crore shares at a price of Rs 91.01 each. This decision followed a similar move by the Chinese conglomerate Alibaba, which partially sold its stake in Zomato the previous year. Additionally, Uber had exited from its 7.8% stake in Zomato in August of the preceding year, selling it for Rs 3,087.93 crore.

Concurrently, investment firm Fidelity Investments and ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company acquired stakes in Zomato on the same day, as per data available on the BSE.

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