Sachin Bansal's investments post Flipkart exit
1 min read 16 Jul 2019, 09:51 AM ISTBansal’s investment in Ola is widely seen as strengthening the hand of AggarwalBansal has subscribed to NCDs issued by Piramal Enterprises, which has business interests in pharmaceutical and financial services
PremiumMumbai: Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal, after selling the online retailer to Walmart last year and raking in a personal fortune in billions of dollars, has made wide ranging investments - mostly debt and some equity.
Here's the list so far:
Ola (ANI Technologies Pvt. Ltd): In February this year Bansal invested $100 million in Ola, the ride-hailing unicorn venture of fellow entrepreneur Bhavish Aggarwal. Mint had reported that Bansal was expected to pump in a total of at least $100 million. As part of the latest round, Bansal has been issued 70,588 series J preference shares at a price of ₹21,250 apeice. Bansal’s investment in Ola is widely seen as strengthening the hand of Aggarwal, who is fighting a long-drawn-out boardroom battle with largest shareholder SoftBank, which has offered to invest more in Ola and increase its stake in the ride-hailing platform.
Altico Capital, IndoStar: Mint reported on February 25 that Bansal has invested ₹250 crore each, via debt, in non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) Altico Capital India Ltd and IndoStar Capital Finance Ltd. The investment was made through BAC Acquisitions Pvt. Ltd, the holding company Bansal started with investment banker Ankit Agarwal. Bansal’s dual investments in Altico and IndoStar also come at a time when non-bank lenders, including NBFCs and housing finance companies, continue to face a liquidity crisis triggered by a series of defaults at Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FS), starting in September last year.
Vogo, Bounce: In May, Bansal invested $3 million each in debt in two scooter-rental startups Vogo and Bounce. These startups generally use debt to finance asset purchases, in this case scooters, while they use equity funding to fuel growth.
Ather Energy: Mint reported on May 28 that Bansal led a $51 million funding round in electric vehicle maker Ather Energy, where he invested $32 million. He has been on Ather Energy’s board since 2014 when he made an angel investment of $500,000 in the company, which was then an IIT Madras-incubated startup.
Piramal Enterprises, Northern Arc Capital: While VCCircle reported that Bansal is investing ₹200 crore in debt paper issuance of another non-bank lender, Northern Arc Capital Ltd, Mint reported on Monday that he has invested ₹200 crore in debt paper issued by Piramal Enterprises Ltd. Bansal has subscribed to non-convertible debentures (NCDs) issued by Piramal Enterprises, which has business interests in pharmaceutical and financial services.
