Societe Generale Offloads Zomato Shares Worth INR 117 Cr, Picks Up Policybazaar Shares

The ongoing sell-off by foreign institutional investors (FIIs) in the Indian equities market also hit new-age tech stocks in the last trading session of the week on January 25. Leading from the front was Societe Generale, which offloaded shares in foodtech major Zomato. However, it also acquired shares of fintech giant Policybazaar. 

As per the data available with the exchanges, Societe Generale sold more than 86.5 Lakh shares of Zomato via a block deal at an average price of INR 136.20 on January 25. This translated to a cumulative sum of INR 117.81 Cr. 

The shares that flooded the markets were lapped up by British hedge fund Marshall Wace through its multiple funds at a price of INR 136.2. In total, Marshall Wace bought Zomato shares worth INR 117 Cr.

On the other hand, Societe Generale picked up shares of PB Fintech, the parent of insurance aggregator Policybazaar, on the same day. The financial services firm acquired nearly 5 Lakh shares of the Indian startup at INR 922.95 apiece, translating to a sum of INR 46.13 Cr. 

Societe Generale bought a part of the shares offloaded by BNP Paribas Arbitrage. The latter sold 7.66 Lakh shares of PB Fintech at a price of INR 922.95 each on Thursday. The remaining 2.6 Lakh shares were bought by Marshall Wace in a block deal.

Head of retail research at Motilal Oswal, Siddhartha Khemka, attributed the trend of FII sell-off to the US Fed likely sticking to the status quo on interest rates during the next slated meeting on Wednesday. 

Besides, with the Union Budget just around the corner, the markets are bearing the brunt of uncertainty. 

It is pertinent to note that Zomato has witnessed a slew of block deals in the recent past in the run up to its Q3 results. Earlier this month, Motilal Oswal Mutual Fund sold 4.5 Cr shares of the foodtech major in a block deal pegged at INR 621.6 Cr. 

Meanwhile, most brokerages such as HSBC, Goldman Sachs and Jefferies continue to be bullish about Zomato.

Zomato reported its maiden profitable quarter in Q1 FY24 with a profit after tax (PAT) of INR 2 Cr and followed it up with another bumper profitable Q2 with a PAT of INR 36 Cr.

Meanwhile, PolicyBazaar also continues to trim its losses. Recently, PB Fintech said it was expected to report profits starting Q3. 

In Q2 FY24, PB Fintech reported an over 89% year-on-year (YoY) decline in net loss to INR 21 Cr. 

Last month, Japanese investment major SoftBank also offloaded 2.53% of its stake in PB Fintech for INR 913.7 Cr.