Block Deal Buzz: PB Fintech Shares Worth INR 920 Cr Change Hands

SUMMARY

PB Fintech's founders Yashish Dahiya and Alok Bansal have dumped shares in droves in the company today via bulk and block deals, making INR 619.6 Cr and INR 300.6 Cr each

The shares were lapped up by Goldman Saachs, Morgan Stanley, Societe General, along with domestic mutual funds like ICICI, Tata Mutual Funds, Citigroup, among others.

The shares sold represent 1.1% of PB Fintech’s total outstanding equity

Update | June 26, 8:37 PM

PB Fintech cofounders Yashish Dahiya and Alok Bansal dumped a large number of shares of the company via bulk and block deals today, making INR 619.6 Cr and INR 300.6 Cr, respectively.

As per the NSE data, Dahiya sold 25 Lakh shares at INR 1,821.50 apiece in a bulk deal today, racking in INR 455.4 Cr. He then proceeded to sell another 9 Lakh share in a separate block deal at INR 1,821.50 apiece, translating to a total of INR 163.9 Cr.

On the other hand, Bansal sold 16.5 Lakh shares at INR 1,821.50 apiece.

The offloaded shares were lapped up by Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Societe General, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, Tata Mutual Fund, Citigroup, among others.

Original | June 26, 3:04 PM

As many as 50.5 Lakh shares of PB Fintech reportedly changed hands in the pre-open block deal window today. Buyers and sellers in the transaction are not officially known.

As per a CNBC TV18 report, the shares changed hands at a price of INR 1,821.50 per share, taking the total transaction value to INR 920 Cr.

This is at a discount of around 1% from the previous closing price of INR 1,839.75.

The number of shares that changed hands aggregate to 1.1% of the total outstanding equity of PB Fintech.

While BSE/NSE data did not reflect any bulk deal, the report suggested that PB Fintech’s cofounders Yashish Dahiya and Alok Bansal were likely the sellers. It also added that the deal included a 90-day lock-in for the sellers, meaning they cannot sell more shares for three months.

Shares of PB Fintech slumped close to 2% on the block deal buzz, and the company’s market volume was 20 Lakh at 2 PM.

At the same time, PB Fintech’s market capitalisation stood at INR 2,254.95 Cr.

Inc42 has reached out to PB Fintech for comments on the development. The story will be updated based on the responses.

The company’s net profit for FY25 soared 448% YoY to INR 353.2 Cr from INR 64 Cr in the previous fiscal year. Its top line also jumped 45% to INR 4,977.2 Cr from INR 3,437.7 Cr in FY24.

As per the Q4 earnings breakup, insurance marketplace PolicyBazaar contributed INR 1,322.4 Cr to the company’s total revenue, registering a 45% YoY growth. Other verticals, including PaisaBazaar, PB Pay, PB Partners, DocPrime, among others, raked in INR 185.5 Cr, growing at 6% YoY.

Despite strong earnings, PB Fintech shares are down over 13.65% YTD.

Earlier this year, a report by Trudence Capital, titled ‘Premium Promises and Discounted Truths’, raised serious questions about PB Fintech’s revenue recognition practices, transparency with investors and the role of its lending arm, Paisabazaar.

Trudence claims PB Fintech’s management has not been fully transparent about how it recognizes revenue, especially the commissions it earns from insurance distribution and the role of Paisabazaar in the company’s financials.

On the business development front, its board approved INR 20 Cr investment in PB Pay, which received RBI’s in-principle approval to operate as a payment aggregator. It also approved a step-down subsidiary in the UAE for Paisabazaar.

PB Fintech also invested INR 539.4 Cr in PB Healthcare, holding a 40.32% stake. PB Healthcare has last month raised $218 Mn in seed funding.

Flurry Of Bulk Deals

Today’s blockdeal adds to a flurry of bulk deals in the years so far where several new-age tech companies, including Ola Electric, Eternal, Paytm, Nykaa and KFin Technologies, have seen significant investor activity through these large transactions. Just today, equity worth INR 168 Cr reportedly changed hands via a block deal in Mobikwik.

For instance, French banking major BNP Paribas picked up 6.24 lakh shares of foodtech company Eternal in a bulk deal valued at INR 1,488.71 Cr.

At the same time, it offloaded 2,48,31,803 shares of beauty e-commerce platform Nykaa at INR 202.81 per share, amounting to a total transaction of INR 503.61 Cr.

In another instance, Antfin, an Alibaba Group affiliate, divested a 4% stake in fintech firm Paytm for INR 2,103 Cr through bulk deals during the same period.

These high value transactions could be driven by investors capitalising on recent stock rallies to book profits. Over the past month, several of the new-age stocks have seen steady upward momentum, in alignment with the broader Indian market.

On a year-to-date basis, the Sensex is up by 6.69% (at the current market price), while the Nifty 50 has gained 7.61%.