TVS exits Rapido with Rs 288 Cr stake sale to Accel and Prosus

TVS Motor Company on Thursday said that it has entered into agreements to divest its stake in bike-taxi aggregator Rapido for Rs 287.93 crore.

TVS has signed agreements with Accel India VIII (Mauritius) Limited and MIH Investments One BV (Prosus) for the monetisation of investment held in Roppen Transportation Services Private Limited (Rapido), according to an exchange filing.

In 2022, TVS Motor entered into a strategic partnership with the on-demand delivery and mobility platform Rapido for collaboration in areas of mutual interest and the commercial mobility ecosystem.

The company proposes to divest its shareholding in Rapido, comprising 11,997 Series D CCPS, to Accel India VIII (Mauritius) for Rs 143.96 crore and 10 number of Equity Shares and 11,988 number of Series D CCPS to MIH Investments One BV for Rs 143.97 crore, TVS Motor said in the filing.

This marks the second complete exit by a major investor from Rapido. Recently, food-tech major Swiggy exited the company, selling its approximately 12% stake for around Rs 2,399 crore with a 2.5x return on its original investment made less than four years ago. Swiggy had cited potential conflicts of interest with Rapido’s mobility and delivery ambitions as one of the reasons for its exit.

Rapido has been gaining strong traction in India’s mobility market. Recently, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said that Rapido has become a bigger rival to Uber in India than Ola, highlighting its growing presence in the two- and three-wheeler mobility segment.

In August, Rapido also launched a pilot of its standalone food delivery app Ownly in select neighborhoods like Koramangala and HSR Layout in Bengaluru. ​​The firm is reportedly gearing up for a wider launch by the end of November.