Tiger Global eyes $300 Mn exit from Policybazaar at $1.5 Bn valuation

Tiger Global, after making three times of its investment in Flipkart exit last year and getting a handsome return from the partial exit in Ola, has been eying another exit at billion-dollar valuation.

The New York-based hedge fund is planning to exit from Etechaces Marketing and Consulting, which is the parent company of Policybazaar and Paisabazaar. Softbank Vision Fund (SVF) and Chinese internet behemoth Tencent are among many investors in discussion to pick up Tiger's stake, which is around 21%.

Softbank, which is already an investor in the firm, plans to increase its stake to close to 20% whereas Tencent will come in as a new investor, said TOI report quoting sources close to the development.

Tiger Global, which has appointed banker for the stake sale, had invested close to $60 million in last five years. Now, it pegs the deal size over $300 million at over $1.5 billion valuation.

The development is taking place at a time when the Indian government has proposed an allowance of 100% FDI in insurance intermediaries from 49%.

Etechaces, with over a decade of existence, started with Policybazaar as an online insurance intermediary. Later, it also started an online lending market place Paisabazaar. Its other health ventures DocPrime and car service business QuickFixcars are also said to get noticeable traction and expected to draw further investment.

This financial year, Etechaces is eying to reach net revenues of Rs 1200 crore. In the last fiscal, it registered Rs 334 crore in revenues. EtechAces’s valuation with last investment led by Softbank in May stands at $950.76 million. It is still away from coveted unicorn status.

Of late, Tiger has also been focusing on B2B investment.

The shift of focus for Tiger is partly because Lee Fixel, who was in charge of Tiger Global Management’s private equity business, departure after 13 years to start his own investment firm in March.

Lee overall investment initiatives helped Tiger established as a prominent technology investment group.