Tiger Global sells half of Zomato stake on open market

Tiger Global’s Singapore-based Internet Fund VI sold off nearly half of its shareholding in food delivery firm Zomato, the former disclosed in a filing with stock exchanges. The shares were all sold on the open market between July 25 and August 2, according to the filing. Tiger Global had a 5.11% stake in Zomato before the sell-off, and now has a 2.77% share, worth around Rs 1,043 crore at Zomato’s current share price.

This disclosure comes a day after Uber sold all of its 7.8% shareholding in the company. According to data from the Bombay Stock Exchange, some of this stake was picked up by Fidelitys’ Emerging Markets Fund and ICICI Prudential.

We have reached out to Zomato and Tiger Global for comment.

Zomato’s shares dipped on Wednesday after the news spread of Uber’s stake sell-off, but has mostly recovered since then. The company’s recent earnings report showed reduced losses and increased revenue, rallying its share price. 

The company is also undergoing a restructuring under the new corporate name Eternal, where its B2B restaurant kitchen business, its instant grocery delivery service, and its nonprofit, will all be led by separate CEOs. Zomato had acquired Blinkit in an all-stock $568 million deal in June, at a steep discount.

The Bombay Stock Exchange and the Securities and Exchange Board of India have asked the company to clarify this restructuring.

Unlike 2021 when it was making big-ticket size investments and emerged as a chief unicorn maker, Tiger Global has shifted its focus to low ticket size investments or early stage startups in India in the ongoing calendar year. The pattern of its investment in India for the past 18 months can be seen here. The New York-based fund also reported a massive loss of $17 billion for the April-June quarter. According to an FT report, the firm has blamed inflation for its losses.