Uber exits Zomato, sells 7.8% stake for Rs 3,100 crore

MUMBAI: Global ride hailing major Uber, through its arm Uber BV, on Wednesday sold its entire 7. 8% stake in food delivery platform Zomato for about Rs 3,100 crore (around $392 million) through block deals on the BSE.
International fund management giant Fidelity and ICICI Prudential Life Insurance bought the biggest blocks from the 61. 2 crore shares offloaded by Uber, BSE data showed.
In 2020, Uber had bought the stake in Zomato for $200 million. With the whole stake sold, the US company nearly doubled its investment in just about two years.

Market sources said about 20 institutional investors picked up the Zomato shares on offer on Wednesday.
BSE data showed Fidelity bought a little over 5. 4 crore shares at an average price of Rs 50. 3 per share while ICICI Prudential Life Insurance bought 4. 5 crore shares at the same per-share price.
Soon after the block de- als were executed, Zomato stock fell over 9% on the BSE to an intraday low of Rs 50. 3 but recovered most of the lost ground through Wednesday’s session to close at Rs 55. 4, down just 0. 4% over its previous close of Rs 55. 6.
The block sale by Uber came within days of Zomato reporting better-than-expected quarterly results that showed its consolidated net loss of Rs 186 crore, nearly half of Rs 360 crore net loss it had incurred the previous quarter. Its consolidated revenue was up 67% at Rs 1,414 crore. On the back of a lower-than-expected net loss and robust revenue, the stock on Tuesday had rallied nearly 20%.
Bank of America Securities was the broker to the deal by ride-hailing company, according to sources.