Exclusive: Cars24 converts into a public entity; MS Dhoni exits partially

The used car segment has been truly busy this year. CarDekho and Droom turned unicorns while Spinny is set to be valued over $1.5 billion in a new round. CarTrade debuted in the public market and SoftBank-backed Cars24 scooped up $450 million at around a $2 billion valuation.

It's time for  Cars24 to show its moves, as the firm contemplates its initial public offering (IPO) in the next 18-24 months. The company’s Singapore-based holding entity has converted into a public company. According to regulatory filings in Singapore, Global Car Group Pte. Ltd has been converted to Global Car Group Limited.

This is the second major Indian company registered in Singapore that has converted into a public company recently. A month ago, Pine Labs had changed its status from private to public. Entrackr had exclusively reported this on September 13. 

Even as it changed status, a couple of existing shareholders in Cars24 have offloaded their holdings partially in a secondary share sale transaction. 

Moore Strategic venture has picked up shares worth $1 million from Asia Venture Group and $275K from the company’s brand ambassador Mahendra Singh Dhoni, separate regulatory filings show. Dhoni also sold $50k worth shares to Ankur Shah.

Queries sent to Cars24 regarding conversion and secondary transactions didn’t elicit an immediate response. We will update the story in case they respond.

This is the second secondary transaction at the Gurugram-based company in 2021. In August, its early backers and co-founders had offloaded $20 million worth of shares to DST Asia. Dhoni had also sold a part of his stake in the company at that time.

Cars24 used to only buy cars on behalf of dealers until 2019. However, it diversified into retail and now directly competes with the likes of CarDekho, Spinny and Droom. The company also entered the used bike segment in 2020 and forayed into the Australian and UAE markets.

While Cars24 is yet to file annual financial statements for FY21, it had recorded 82% growth in its operating revenue to Rs 2,998 crore in FY20 from Rs 1,654 crore in FY19. During the same period, it also managed to shrink losses by 12% to Rs 285 crore in FY20 from Rs 325.7 crore.