Shares of food delivery company Zomato hit a new low of Rs 75.55, down 1.4 per cent on the BSE in Wednesday’s intra-day deals in an otherwise strong market, on reports that the company and online grocery firm Blinkit (formerly Grofers) are in talks for a merger deal.
The stock declined 5.5 per cent from its intra-day high of Rs 79.95. The stock fell below its previous low of Rs 75.75 touched on February 15, 2022. In comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 1.4 per cent or 777 points at 56,553 at 09:52 am. The counter witnessed huge trading volumes with a combined 16.59 million equity shares changing hands in first 37 minutes of trade on the NSE and BSE.
According to a Business Standard report, Zomato and Blinkit are in talks for a merger deal, according to sources aware of the development, even while the food delivery platform in a regulatory filing on Tuesday said it has extended a loan of $150 million to Grofers India.
Sources say what is under discussion is a share-swap deal in which Blinkit would be valued at around $750-800 million. Shareholders and investors of Blinkit will get around 10 per cent in Zomato. SoftBank, which has 40 per cent stake in Blinkit, will get around 4-4.5 per cent shareholding in the merged entity. CLICK HERE FOR FULL REPORT
Zomato in a BSE regulatory filing stated that the company has extended a loan at an interest of 12 per cent per annum or higher with a tenor of not more than a year, and will be given in one or more tranches.
The board of Zomato also approved acquisition of 16.66 per cent equity in Mukunda Foods for a consideration of $5 million. Mukunda is a food robotics company that designs and manufactures smart robotic equipment to automate food preparation for restaurants. Their products enable restaurants to scale rapidly while maintaining consistency in food quality and customer experience across multiple outlets.
“Our investment will help Mukunda Foods scale faster, help reduce restaurant food prices, expand margins, and enhance customer delight”, Zomato said.
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