Zomato Starts Portugal Subsidiary Liquidation

SUMMARY

The foodtech started liquidating Zomato Media Portugal, Unipessoal Lda (ZM Portugal), a wholly-owned subsidiary, on July 21, 2023

Per the filing, ZM Portugal had a net worth of INR 1.2 Cr, which represents around 0.01% of Zomato’s net worth

The liquidation follows similar shutdowns in Jordan, Indonesia and the Philippines, along with the closure of its food delivery service in the UAE

Listed foodtech giant Zomato continues its withdrawal from international markets, as it has started the liquidation of its Portugal subsidiary, filings with the BSE showed.

The foodtech started liquidating Zomato Media Portugal, Unipessoal Lda (ZM Portugal), a wholly-owned subsidiary, on July 21, 2023. “Further, as disclosed in our red herring prospectus dated July 6, 2021, and the prospectus dated July 19, 2021, ZM Portugal does not have any active business operations,” added Zomato in the listing.

According to Zomato, ZM Portugal was not a material subsidiary and its dissolution will not affect the turnover or revenue of the company. Per the filing, ZM Portugal had a net worth of INR 1.2 Cr, which represents around 0.01% of Zomato’s net worth.

The liquidation process is expected to be completed within the next 12 months, subject to required approvals, the Gurugram-based listed startup said

The withdrawal from Portugal is one in a list of several offshore subsidiaries being shut down by Zomato. Most of these entities were said to be non-operating, that is, they did not have any active business operations.

Earlier this month, the foodtech giant started the liquidation process for its Indonesian subsidiary, PT Zomato Media Indonesia (PTZMI). As with the Portuguese subsidiary, PTZMI did not have any active business operations.

In March, Zomato started liquidating its step-down non-operating subsidiary in Jordan, Zomato Ireland Limited – Jordan. In February, the listed foodtech major said it would shut operations in the Philippines and Indonesia.

Zomato has active operations in India and the UAE. In November 2022, Kuwaiti foodtech startup Talabat shut down Zomato’s food delivery unit in the UAE, which it acquired for a reported $172 Mn in 2019.

The Indian foodtech continues to offer restaurant discovery and dining-out services in the UAE.

At the start of the year, Zomato said it pulled out of 225 cities in the country owing to poor performance. In a shareholder letter, Zomato CFO Akshant Goyal said the foodtech exited around 225 smaller cities in January, which contributed 0.3% of our GOV (gross order value) in Q3FY23 (October-December).