Zomato has refuted recent reports claiming that it had offered to acquire delivery platform Shiprocket for $2 billion. In a regulatory filing, the company termed the news as “incorrect.”
The filing stated, “We have noticed that there are certain news articles circulating in the mainstream media with the subject ‘Zomato offers to acquire Shiprocket for $2 billion.’ We deny this statement and would like to caution investors against such incorrect news floating in the market. We remain focused on our existing businesses with no plans for any acquisition at this moment.”
Deepinder Goyal, CEO of Zomato, also addressed the issue on social media platform X, stating, “Kindly note that the Company does not comment on media speculation but is clarifying this information out of abundant caution, given the large size of the deal mentioned in the news article and the uncertainty that it may create in the market.”
The denial comes after a report by Bloomberg earlier this week stated that Zomato had made an offer to acquire Shiprocket. However, Bloomberg added that “no concrete decision has been taken.”
It’s worth noting that Zomato is already an investor in Shiprocket, having acquired a stake in the company during its $185-million Series E funding in 2021. This funding round also saw participation from Temasek and Lightrock India.
Zomato’s shares closed at Rs 127.55 apiece on the BSE on Thursday.
