SoftBank fund cuts stake in India’s Zomato in $115m deal

BENGALURU (Reuters) – SoftBank Vision Fund on Wednesday sold a 1.17% stake in Indian food delivery firm Zomato in a deal valued at 9.47bn rupees ($114.7m), exchange data showed.

The venture capital fund, part of Japan’s SoftBank Group, sold 100m shares at 94.7 rupees apiece in bulk deals.

International Monetary Fund, Morgan Stanley Asia Singapore, Societe Generale, Goldman Sachs (Singapore), Invesco Mutual Fund and Kotak Mahindra Life Insurance were among those who bought Zomato shares, data from the National Stock Exchange showed.

SoftBank, an investor in Blinkit, got Zomato shares as a part of the Indian food delivery firm’s acquisition of quick grocery-delivery startup last year.

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Prior to the sale, the fund owned a 3.35% stake in Zomato.

SoftBank joins a host of investors who have partially or fully exited the company, including U.S.-based private equity firm Tiger Global, which sold its remaining holding for $136m on Monday.

Softbank, Tiger Global and Sequoia, who were investors in Blinkit had all received shares in Zomato after the acquisition.

Earlier this month, Zomato posted its first-ever profit, helped by a tax gain and strong orders in its food and grocery delivery businesses.

Zomato shares, which have gained more than 68% so far this year, closed up 5.4% on Wednesday.

($1 = 82.7555 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Dhanya Ann Thoppil)

Source: Yahoo Finance

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