PharmEasy eyes Rs 3,500 Cr investment via right issue

Amidst challenging market conditions, API Holdings Limited, the parent firm of online pharmacy company PharmEasy, is planning to raise Rs 3,500 crore through the right issue from existing backers.

Temasek, TPG Growth, Prosus Ventures, CDPQ, Eight Roads Ventures, LGT Lightstone, ADQ (Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund), Amansa, OrbiMed, and Sunil Kant Munjal’s family office, have expressed their interest to invest up to Rs 2,000 crore.

According to Mint, which reported the development first, Ranjan Pai’s family office may invest Rs 1,200 crore during the round. The fresh round of financing will be used to repay the term loan taken from Goldman Sachs. In June, PharmEasy reportedly breached its loan covenant terms with Goldman Sachs.

Pharmeasy’s valuation has been slashed by nearly around 50% by its backers this year. Neuberger Berman reduced the company's valuation by 21.4% to $4.4 billion in February while Janus Henderson further adjusted the valuation to $2.8 billion.

Industry sources indicate that the new round will value PharmEasy in the range of $500 million (pre-money). This essentially means that the company’s value eroded to the tune of 90% as its peak valuation stood at $5.6 billion in October 2021.

In August 2022, PharmEasy postponed its plans to launch an IPO amidst challenging market conditions. While the company is yet to file its annual financial result for the previous fiscal year, its scale grew 2.5X to Rs 5,729 crore during FY22. PharmEasy’s losses mounted by 4.3X to Rs 3,992 crore during the same period.