Tencent Dumps 2.1% Stake In Policybazaar For INR 562 Cr

Chinese tech investor Tencent on Friday (May 26) offloaded 2.1% of its stake in PB Fintech, the parent of Policybazaar and Paisabazaar, for INR 562 Cr ($68 Mn). 

As per the bulk deal data on the BSE, Tencent sold 94.16 Lakh shares of PB Fintech at INR 596.66 per share. 

With this, Tencent’s stake in the fintech startup reduced to 6.3% from 8.4%. 

Societe Generale lapped up some of the shares, as per the data. The investor bought 22.64 Lakh shares of PB Fintech for a cumulative sum of INR 135.01 Cr. It purchased the shares at INR 596.3 apiece. 

The development comes at a time when a lot of investors have been selling their stakes in listed startups. Earlier, it was reported that SoftBank was looking to sell 5% of its stake in PB Fintech. In November last year, venture capital firm Tiger Global divested 2.98% stake in the new-age tech startup for INR 522 Cr. 

While previous stake sales were expected as they came around the time PB Fintech’s IPO lock-in period expired, the new development comes at a time when the fintech startup has seen a reversal of fortunes. 

PB Fintech reported positive financial results for the fourth quarter (Q4) of the fiscal year 2022-23 (FY23), announcing that it achieved adjusted EBITDA profitability during the quarter. It slashed its net loss by nearly 90% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 9 Cr during the quarter ended March 2023, while operating revenue jumped 61% YoY to INR 869.1 Cr in the same period. 

Founded in 2008 by Yashish Dahiya, Alok Bansal, and Avaneesh Nirjar, PB Fintech operates insurance aggregator platform Paisabazaar that allows users to choose from a wide range of insurance providers across multiple segments. Meanwhile, Paisabazaar enables users to access their credit scores and offers financial products.

It is pertinent to note that Tencent’s existing 6.2% stake in Policybazaar could still be valued in excess of $200 Mn at prevailing stock prices. Tencent first purchased a stake in the insurtech giant for $150 Mn in 2019 as part of a secondary transaction with Tiger Global. 

Shares of PB Fintech ended Friday’s session 2.85% lower at INR 604.65 on the BSE.

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