Warburg Pincus Exits CarTrade, Sells 8.6% Stake For INR 375 Cr

Private equity (PE) firm Warburg Pincus has exited CarTrade by divesting its entire 8.64% stake in the auto marketplace for INR 375.1 Cr.

As per NSE data, Warburg Pincus’ subsidiary Highdell Investment sold more than 40.76 Lakh shares in CarTrade at INR 920.3 apiece via a bulk deal and exited the company.

Mirae Asset Mutual Fund lapped up some of the shares. The asset management company (AMC) picked up 30.22 Lakh shares at INR 920 per share, translating into a cumulative sum of INR 278.02 Cr. 

The deal comes nearly three months after Highdell Investment dumped more than 40.65 Lakh shares of the auto marketplace for a sum of INR 336.82 Cr. Warburg Pincus, which was one of the early investors in the company, likely dumped the stake in CarTrade to book profits amid positive market sentiment. 

Last month, the PE firm exited MedPlus Health Services by divesting its entire 11.35% stake in the listed pharmacy chain for INR 836 Cr. Besides, as many as two new-age tech companies in Warburg Pincus’ India portfolio, Avanse Financial Services and Ecom Express, have filed IPO papers with SEBI. 

Founded in 2009 by Vinay Sanghi and Rajan Mehra, CarTrade sells vehicles across all types. It counts brands like OLX India, CarWale, BikeWale, CarTradeExchange, Shriram Automall, Adroit Auto, and Autobiz under its umbrella and sells technology solutions for OEMs and dealers.

It competes with the likes of CarDekho, Droom, CARS24, among others, in the growing online automotive classifieds market in India.

CarTrade reported a 69.4% increase in its consolidated net profit to INR 22.89 Cr in the first quarter (Q1) of the financial year 2024-25 (FY25) as against INR 13.51 Cr in the year-ago period. Meanwhile, revenue from operations jumped 64% to INR 141.17 Cr in Q1 FY25 from INR 86.06 Cr in the corresponding quarter last year.

Shares of the company ended Tuesday’s (September 24) trading session 0.04% higher at INR 975.25 on the BSE.