SoftBank Offloads 1.06% Stake In Zomato For INR 1,127 Cr

Japanese tech investor SoftBank on Friday (December 8) offloaded 9.35 Cr shares of foodtech giant Zomato in an INR 1,127 Cr block deal. 

SVF Growth (Singapore) dumped 1.06% stake in the company at INR 120.5 apiece, as per NSE data. 

The shares that flooded the market were lapped up by Invesco, ICICI Prudential Insurance, Goldman Sachs (Singapore), Kadensa Capital, Morgan Stanley Asia Singapore, among others. 

SVF Growth (Singapore) held a 2.17% stake in Zomato at the end of September 2023, owning 18.71 Cr shares. However, the investor sold 1.09% stake in the company in October for a sum of INR 1,040.5 Cr. 

With the latest share sale, the investor has most likely completely exited Zomato.

The Japanese investor has been on a selling spree, looking to book profits as the Indian equity markets and new-age tech stocks continue to rise. Prior to this, SVF Growth offloaded 1.15% stake in Zomato for INR 947 Cr in August 2023.

This is in line with the larger trend in the market where international investors have been selling their stakes in homegrown new-age tech companies. Earlier this month, Chinese tech major Alipay exited Zomato by selling its entire 3.44% stake via multiple block deals for INR 3,336.7 Cr. 

In August, VC firm Tiger Global also sold 12.24 Cr shares of Zomato for INR 1,123 Cr.

This stake sale spree comes as Zomato reported its second consecutive profitable quarter in the second quarter of the financial year 2023-24 (FY24). The foodtech major’s profit after tax soared to INR 36 Cr during the September quarter of FY24, up 18X from PAT of INR 2 Cr in the preceding quarter.

Meanwhile, Zomato has been grappling with its own set of challenges. The company, along with competitor Swiggy, reportedly received notices for a cumulative goods and services tax (GST) bill of INR 1,000 Cr, incurred on account of the 18% tax levied on the total amount collected by them as delivery fees since commencing operations. 

Shares of Zomato ended today’s trading 1.27% lower at INR 120.15 on the NSE.

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