SoftBank Offloads Delhivery Shares Worth INR 954 Cr In Block Deals

Japanese tech conglomerate SoftBank on Wednesday (March 1) sold 2.8 Cr Delhivery shares worth INR 954.2 Cr via multiple block deals in the open market.

SoftBank offloaded a 2.84% stake in the logistics startups via its investment arm SVF Doorbell (Cayman) Ltd. 

As of December 2022, SoftBank’s SVF Doorbell (Cayman) Ltd held a total stake of 18.42%, or 13.4 Cr shares, in Delhivery. It was the biggest shareholder in the company.

There were reports yesterday that SoftBank would sell a stake worth about INR 600 Cr in Delhivery via block deals. For the VC behemoth, which is already struggling with its portfolio of Indian companies – both listed and unlisted ones – the stake sale at Delhivery looks like a prompt and timely act, given that shares of Delhivery have surged over 14% over the last one month.

While SoftBank sold its shares, several other institutional investors, including the likes of Societe Generale, BNP Paribas Arbitrage, Fidelity Funds, and Baillie Gifford Emerging Markets Equities Fund, Invesco bought the shares offloaded in block deals.

While European financial services major Societe Generale bought 24 Lakh Delhivery shares worth INR 81.8 Cr, Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority bought over 21 Lakh shares worth INR 72.8 Cr of the logistics unicorn.

Further, UK-based Invesco Perpetual Far Eastern Investment Series bought 35 Lakh shares worth more than INR 119 Cr.

Delhivery stock fell 1.9% to INR 337.5 during the early trading hours on the BSE. However, the fall stabilised later, helped by the significant buying activity. Delhivery ended Wednesday’s trade up 1.2% at INR 348.4.

Earlier, Tiger Global’s Internet Fund III offloaded 1.2 Cr Delhivery shares worth INR 414.2 Cr in a bulk deal in February. In November last year, CA Swift Investments sold 2.5% of its stake worth INR 607 Cr in the startup.

Over the last two years, SoftBank has been lowering its investments in startups globally. In 2021, the Masayoshi Son-led VC firm invested over $3 Bn across 17 deals in India while it participated in only four funding rounds in 2022.

Recently, SoftBank also offloaded its stake in Paytm and PB Fintech. In November 2022, Softbank sold 4.5% of its stake in Paytm in a $200 Mn deal, after the fintech major’s lock-in expired. 

In December, Softbank offloaded around a 5% stake in PB Fintech via block deals.

However, Delhivery has been giving good returns to the firm. As per its latest report, SoftBank’s earnings from Delhivery stand at $200 Mn. It had invested $300 Mn in the startup.

Last month, Delhivery posted a consolidated net loss of INR 195.6 Cr in Q3. Although the net loss was up 54.6% year-on-year, the company saw a 23% sequential decline in its losses.

Softbank’s net loss in the quarter ending December 31, 2022, stood at $5.9 Bn, with its main startup investment fund division, Vision Fund, contributing $5.5 Bn in loss during the quarter.