Zomato says not privy to shareholders’ plan

NEW DELHI: After ride-hailing platform Uber sold its 7.8 per cent stake worth over $390 million in Zomato, the Deepinder Goyal-run company said on Wednesday it is not privy to what its shareholders are doing with their shares.

Uber, which suffered around $707 million loss in its Zomato investment in the first half of this year, sold its share in the food delivery aggregator via a block deal on stock exchanges that has been bought by several global and Indian VCs, according to sources close to the development of the matter.

According to them, the block deal move will actually ensure more “long-term” and stable investment from top VC firms in the company.

The Zomato block deal was executed at Rs 50.44 per share equivalent to 612 million or 7.8 per cent of total outstanding shares. In a statement, Zomato said: “We are a public company and are not privy to what our shareholders are doing with their shares”. Zomato stock closed at Rs 55.40 on Wednesday, before falling nearly 10 per cent in the early morning trade, and then recovering fast during the day.

Uber was yet to issue an official statement on the development. Uber on Tuesday revealed that it lost about $245 million in its Zomato investment in the Q2 this year. In the first six months this year, the total loss was around $707 million, said the company during its Q2 earnings.

Uber had sold its food delivery business Uber Eats in 2020 in an all-stock transaction to Zomato for a 9.99 pc stake in the online food delivery platform, and took 7.78 pc in online food aggregator.

Zomato shares have lost over 60 per cent of its value this year.

It reported Rs 185.7 cr in consolidated loss for the quarter ending June 30, against a loss of Rs 359.7 cr in the previous quarter.

NEW DELHI: Low cost carrier SpiceJet is said to be in active discussion with a Middle Eastern carrier for a possible stake sale.

SpiceJet promoter Ajay Singh holds a stake of around 60 per cent in the budget carrier. Sources said a big Middle Eastern airline has expressed interest to pick a 24 per cent stake and a board seat in SpiceJet. A big Indian business conglomerate has also approached Singh for a stake in the airline.

Reacting to the development, a SpiceJet Spokesperson said, “The company continues to be in discussions with various investors to secure sustainable financing and will make appropriate disclosures in accordance with applicable regulations.”

Earlier, on Tuesday, SpiceJet said it entered into a full and final settlement with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and has cleared all outstanding principal dues of the airport operator. With this, SpiceJet will no longer remain on ‘cash and carry’ at AAI run airports across the country and will revert to advance payment mechanism for daily flight operations. SpiceJet’s ability to clear the pending dues reflects the airline’s improved cash flow in recent times.

SpiceJet’s domestic network covers the length and breadth of the country with the airline operating to 51 domestic destinations. Pioneer of the regional connectivity scheme, SpiceJet is the country’s largest regional player helping connect the remotest parts of the country by air.

The airline’s focus on providing direct flight connectivity to regional hubs not only ensures better connectivity, it also has a cascading effect on tourism and economic activity in the region. SpiceJet has added multiple UDAN destinations to the country’s aviation map including Pakyong, Jharsuguda, Kandla, Darbhanga, Kanpur, Ajmer (Kishangarh), among others.