Antfin Offloads 2% Stake In Zomato Via Bulk Deals Worth INR 2,827 Cr

Chinese tech giant Ant Group’s arm Antfin Singapore on Wednesday (March 6) offloaded 2% stake in foodtech major Zomato via bulk deals for INR 2,827 Cr.

As per the BSE data, Antfin sold 9.7 Cr shares of Zomato at a price of INR 160.40 each and another 7.93 Cr shares at INR 160.11 apiece.

The two deals together translated to a cumulative value of more than INR 2,827 Cr. 

Morgan Stanley Asia (Singapore) lapped up some of the offloaded shares. It acquired more than 5.68 Cr shares of the foodtech giant at INR 160.1 apiece, translating to a total deal of INR 909.5 Cr. 

At the end of December quarter of 2023, the Chinese investment firm held a 6.42% stake in the company. 

The development comes as Zomato shares continue to notch all-time highs, reaching a record high of INR 175.5 during the intraday trading on Monday (March 4). With this, Antfin could be looking at booking profits as the startup emerges as an investor favourite amid a profitability streak and growing revenues.

Zomato’s profit after tax (PAT) soared 283% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) to INR 138 Cr in the quarter ended December 2023. Operating revenue grew to INR 3,288 Cr from INR 2,848 Cr in Q2 FY24.

On the back of profitable numbers, shares of Zomato have soared nearly 200% in the past 12 months. The stock has also surged over 30% on a year-to-date (YTD) basis.

Owing to this, a  number of major investors have offloaded their stakes in the company in recent months to book profits. In January, Societe Generale sold over 86.5 Lakh shares of Zomato in an INR 117 Cr block deal, while Motilal Oswal Mutual Fund also undertook an INR 621.6 Cr block deal.

Prior to that, SoftBank offloaded 9.35 Cr shares of Zomato in an INR 1,127 Cr block deal in December 2023. 

Meanwhile, shares of Zomato ended Wednesday’s trading session 2.68% lower at INR 161.60 on the BSE.

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