Zomato seeks CCI approval to buy stake in SoftBank backed Grofers

Food delivery service Zomato on Wednesday filed a proposal with the Competition Commission of India to acquire a 9.3% stake in SoftBank backed grocery etailer Grofers. 

The market-bound delivery app was looking to invest about $100 million (Rs 736 crore) in Grofers, The Economic Times had reported in May.  

Grofers had signed a deal with Zomato and Tiger Global to raise $120 million valuing the etailer at a little over $1 billion and welcoming it to 2021’s growing list of unicorns, media reports said.  

Zomato in April filed for an initial public offering (IPO) of up to Rs 8,250 crore to issue fresh shares worth up to Rs 7,500 crore. 

Zomato, a public limited company that was incorporated on 18 January 2010, primarily operates in the food services market and provides a platform that connects customers, restaurant partners and delivery partners.   

The Delhi-based firm was founded by Deepinder Goyal and Pankaj Chaddah in 2008. It has its reach in 24 countries across 10,000 cities. 

Grofers, founded by Albinder Dhindsa and Saurabh Kumar, began operations in 2014. It expanded rapidly in initial years and raised more than $150 million from the likes of SoftBank, Tiger Global, Sequoia and other investors. 

In other deals in the foodtech sector, the CCI in April approved Tata Digital’s proposal to acquire a majority stake for about $1 billion in Supermarket Grocery Supplies (SGS), the parent company and B2B operator of e-grocer BigBasket, Grofers’ largest rival. 

VCCircle reported that SoftBank Vision Fund 2 was expected to invest approximately $450 million in Swiggy. The deal will mark Masayoshi Son led SoftBank Group Corp’s first direct bet in the sector in India.

In April, Zomato added five independent directors to its board of which four were women.