Adani seeks Mumbai airport stake; OYO may buy FreshMenu as Swiggy eyes UberEats

By Keshav Sunkara

  • 22 Feb 2019
Credit: 123RF.com

Billionaire Gautam Adani-led diversified conglomerate Adani Group has submitted a formal offer to pick up a 23.5% stake in Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) from South Africa’s Bidvest Group and Airports Company South Africa, The Economic Times reported.

Citing people aware of the development, the report said Adani Group is valuing MIAL around Rs 9,500 crore ($1.3 billion).
South Africa’s Bidvest Group holds a 13.5% stake in MIAL while Airports Company South Africa owns 10%. 

GVK Airport Holdings Pvt. Ltd, a wholly owned unit of GVK Power and Infrastructure Ltd, holds 50.5% of MIAL. The Airports Authority of India owns 26%.

GVK has the right of first refusal to buy the stake held by Bidvest and Airports Company South Africa, according to the report. The South African companies have invoked the right of first refusal clause. GVK has to match Adani’s offer by the end of this month, the report said.

Mumbai International Airport is also developing the Navi Mumbai airport.

Earlier this week, The Economic Times reported that Canadian pension fund PSP Investments, Spanish infrastructure company Ferrovial and sovereign wealth fund Abu Dhabi Investment Authority had placed final bids to pick up a stake in GVK Airport Holdings.

Budget hospitality chain OYO is in talks to acquire cloud kitchen and food delivery platform FreshMenu for around $50-60 million (Rs 356-427 crore), The Economic Times reported, citing three people aware of the development.

Swiggy, Zomato, Faasos and Ola had also held discussions to acquire FreshMenu, operated by Bengaluru-based Foodvista India Pvt. Ltd. However, the talks didn’t progress due to valuation mismatch, according to the report.  

An OYO spokesperson told the financial daily that over 25% of the company’s revenue comes from food and beverage business at its hotel properties.

Last month, VCCircle reported that FreshMenu raised Rs 21 crore ($2.94 million) in a fresh funding round from existing investors Lightspeed Venture Partners, Zodius Technology fund and serial entrepreneur K Ganesh’s Growthstory. The company raised this round at an estimated valuation of $48 million (Rs 342.50 crore).

The company's last known major funding round was in January 2016, when it raised $17 million at a valuation of nearly $41 million.

Lightspeed Venture Partners is a common investor in OYO and FreshMenu.

Swiggy-UberEats

Online food delivery firm Swiggy is in advanced negotiations to acquire the India operations of UberEats, the food delivery business of US-based ride-hailing firm Uber Technologies Inc., The Economic Times reported.

Citing three people aware of the development, the report said it could likely be an all-stock deal in which Uber may get about 10% stake in Swiggy.

Zomato had also held talks to acquire UberEats, but the discussions didn’t progress, according to the report.

In December last year, Swiggy had raised $1 billion (around Rs 7,000 crore) in a fresh round of funding led by South African technology conglomerate Naspers. The round valued Swiggy at more than $3 billion.

Beauty and skincare retailer Nykaa is in talks with private equity firm TPG Capital to raise about $30 million (Rs 214 crore), The Economic Times reported.

Citing people aware of the development, the report said the deal could value the company at around Rs 4,500 crore.

Run by FSN E-Commerce Ventures Pvt. Ltd, Nykaa was founded in 2012 by investment-banker-turned entrepreneur Falguni Nayar, a former managing director at Kotak Mahindra Capital. It sells products across categories ranging from skincare, hair care and fragrances.

In May last year, Nykaa had closed its Series D round of investment at Rs 165 crore ($24 million) from its existing investors. The round included both primary investment and an exit by Nykaa’s early-stage investors.

In September, mid-market private equity firm Lighthouse invested Rs 113 crore ($15.7 million) through a secondary transaction in Nykaa.