Tiger Global, a venture capital (VC) firm, offloaded shares in logistics major Delhivery in a bulk transaction on Tuesday (April 11).
Tiger Global’s Internet Fund III made a profit of INR 337.8 Cr by selling 1.17 Cr shares (a 1.6% stake) in the open market at INR 330 each. The global hedge fund sold the shares at a nearly 0.6% premium to Delhivery’s BSE closing price of INR 328.1 on Monday.
There was no information available on who bought the shares that flooded the market from Delhivery. On the BSE on April 11, shares of Delhivery rose 0.82% during intraday trading to close at INR 330.80.
The development comes two months after the same fund sold 1.2 crore Delhivery shares on the open market for INR 414.2 crore. Then, in March, it sold another 0.75% stake in the company for INR 177 Cr.
Tiger Global’s Internet Fund III held 4.68% of the logistics company at the end of December 2022. It sold a 1.7% stake in Delhivery in February and then reduced its stake by 0.75%, leaving it with a 0.63% stake in the homegrown logistics giant.
After a brief lull of two months, Delhivery has returned to the situation that has plagued many Indian new-age listed tech companies in the past year. Many such companies’ pre-IPO investors, including Zomato, Paytm, and PolicyBazaar, fled last year as share prices plummeted.
The tech crash was largely caused by global macroeconomic pressures and wary investors who sold their stakes in these portfolio companies due to concerns about profitability and mounting losses.
Last year, Delhivery listed amid volatile market conditions, and many of its pre-IPO investors left, including CA Swift Investments, which sold 2.5% of its stake for INR 607 Cr after the lock-in period expired in November 2022.
Tiger Global, on the other hand, has been slashing its stake in listed Indian startups left, right, and centre. Last year, the VC fund also exited PB Fintech after the insurtech startup’s lock-in period expired.
Tiger Global’s problem in India has been exacerbated by regulatory pitfalls and soaring losses at its portfolio companies. Tiger Global has had a difficult run in India recently, whether it is BharatPe, which has seen a public spat between its board of directors and cofounders, or GoMechanic, which was recently hawked for parts amid allegations of financial fraud.
