SoftBank set to raise stake in logistics unicorn Delhivery

By Ranjani Raghavan

  • 01 Oct 2019
Credit: 123RF.com

SoftBank Vision Fund is picking up an additional 3.28% stake in logistics company Delhivery Pvt. Ltd through a secondary transaction, regulatory filings show.

The Vision Fund’s stake in the Indian company will increase to 25.72% from 22.42% after the transaction, according to a filing made to the Competition Commission of India.

The filing didn’t disclose the name of the seller.

Japanese conglomerate SoftBank Group Corp, through its Vision Fund, had signalled its intention to acquire about 37.87% of Delhivery in January. In February, the CCI approved the first leg of the deal wherein SoftBank was allowed to acquire 22.44% while private equity firm Carlyle picked up 12.39%. That transaction had propelled Delhivery into the unicorn club of tech startups with a valuation of at least $1 billion.

Delhivery has also raised funding from a number of venture capital and PE investors including Multiples Private Equity, Tiger Global Management, Nexus Venture Partners and China’s Fosun International. More recently, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board invested $115 million in the company.

Delhivery was founded in 2011 by Sahil Barua, Mohit Tandon, Suraj Saharan, Kapil Bharti and Bhavesh Manglani. It earlier operated as SSN Logistics Pvt. Ltd, providing local on-demand services and then grew to a full-fledged logistics player.

For SoftBank Vision Fund, the latest transaction will add to its growing India investments. The fund is already one of the biggest investors in Indian startups, and is looking to strike more deals.

The fund is reportedly in talks to invest in DailyHunt and Lenskart. It may also invest in Snapdeal, media reports said in August.