CCI nod to Zomato's Rs 741-cr investment in Grofers, HOTPL

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved the proposed investment by dood delivery platform Zomato in Grofers India Private  Limited and Hands on Trades Private Limited on August 13, 2021, Zomato said in a statement today. Grofers International Pte is the holding company of Grofers India and HoT.

Zomato said with this approval, the company has now completed the acquisition of 9.16 per cent of shareholding on a fully diluted basis in GIPL for Rs 518.2 crore and 8.94 per cent of shareholding on fully-diluted basis in HOTPL for  Rs 222.8 crore, with the an aggregate consideration of Rs 741 crore.

Zomato had last month said it invested USD 100 million for acquiring a minority stake in Grofers as the company looks to have more exposure to the online grocery segment.

Zomato was incorporated in January 2010 while Grofers India was set up in May 2015. HoT is into the business of B2B wholesale trading with third party merchants, contract manufacturing of food products, grocery and other goods for onward sale on a wholesale basis, and providing warehousing services, including storage of food products and grocery goods to third party merchants. It was incorporated in September 2015.

Zomato on Tuesday reported Q1 FY22 loss at Rs 360 crore as compared to the adjusted EBITDA loss of Rs 170 crore. The company had recorded Rs 99.8 crore loss in the year-ago period.

Zomato's initial public offering (IPO) opened for subscription on July 14, in a price band of Rs 72-76 per share. The IPO ended with a bumper 38 times subscription. The stock later made its debut at Rs 115, reflecting 51.31 per cent gain against the issue price on the BSE.

The Zomato IPO comprised a fresh issue of equity shares worth Rs 9,000 crore and an offer-for-sale (OFS) worth Rs 375 crore by existing investor Info Edge (India), which is the parent company of Naukri.com.

Meanwhile, Zomato share closed 1.15 per cent up on NSE at Rs 134.50, compared to the previous session close of Rs 132.50.

Also read: Zomato to re-enter e-grocery delivery biz with Grofers acquisition
Also read: CCI approves Zomato buying 9.3% stake in Grofers India