'Landmark judgment,' says Ashneer Grover after HC refuses to restrain him from selling shares bought from BharatPe co-founder

Former BharatPe managing director Ashneer Grover on Friday hailed Delhi High Court for refusing to restrain him from selling shares purchased from BharatPe co-founder Shashvat Nakrani.

HC rejected BharatPe co-founder Shashvat Nakrani's interim application to stop Grover from creating any third party rights over the shares he sold to Grover. 

However, Justice Sachin Datta asked Grover to give an intimation to Nakrani before he decides to transfer or sell the shares in question, reported Bar & Bench. Reports pegged worth of the shares at nearly Rs 500 crore.

Grover said on X platform (formerly Twitter) that "this order shall go a long way in protecting rights of Founders in India".

"I am highly indebted to Hon’ble High Court to pass this order (I’ve just been informed of order read out in Court) in my favour and protecting my equity. We as Founders work hard to create ‘equity’ value and this order shall go a long way in protecting rights of Founders in India. More importantly it’ll teach an important lesson to co - founders to respect each other’s equity and not break the ‘bro - code’. Big shout out to my lawyer Giri Subramanium - it’s a landmark judgement in many ways," said Grover. 

According to a report in Mint, fintech firm BharatPe was founded by Shashvat Nakrani and Bhavik Koladiya in March 2018 with each owning 50% in the firm. Grover joined the company as a third co-founder and board member in July 2018, and purchased 3,192 shares (2,447 from Nakrani and 745 from Koladiya for Rs 10 per share).

BharatPe has turned profitable five years after it was launched in 2018, CFO and interim CEO Nalin Negi said on November 28, 2023. In an official statement, the company said that BharatPe has turned Ebitda  positive in October and recored an annualised revenue of Rs 1,500 crore. The ARR was  31% more than from the year ago period mainly on the back of significant growth in its lending and payments business.

The fintech major facilitated loans worth over Rs 640 crore to its merchants in October on its platform, which is a 36% more than on a year-on-year basis. In all, BharatPe has facilitated loans totaling over Rs 12,400 crore since its foray into this segment in late 2019. 

BharatPe, in October, also recorded a monthly TPV of over Rs 14,000 crores acros its diverse range of payment products.