Former IDFC Securities star equity analyst
Nikhil Vora has sold his entire stake in
One97 Communications,
Paytm's parent company, to Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holdings, raking in about Rs 150 crore on his six-year-old investment.
That's more than 75 times in returns from the sale of the 0.35% stake or 1,60,000 shares of One97 Communications that Vora owned. Vora, who quit IDFC Securities in 2014 to set up investment firm Sixth Sense Ventures, continues to hold shares in Paytm E-commerce, which was demerged from One97 Communications this year.
The transaction was part of a larger secondary share sale round that had institutional investors Saama Capital, Sapphire Ventures and Reliance Capital also selling their holdings in One97 to Alibaba and its payment affiliate Alipay. The Chinese companies together now own about 45% in One97 Communications, up from about 41%.
He is the founder of Sixth Sense Ventures, a consumer sector-centric venture firm, offloaded his 0.35% stake in One97 at a valuation of about $7 billion, the person said, asking not to be named.
The development comes at a time when Japanese media and Internet conglomerate SoftBank Group is looking to invest $1.9 billion (Rs 12,000 crore) into One97 at a valuation of as much as $9 billion. Vora was earlier in discussions to sell his stake to Hero Corporate Services chairman Sunil Munjal and Adventz Group chairman Saroj Poddar, according to recent media reports.
Vora Recently In News For-
Vora recently exited his investment in Kangaroo Kids Education Ltd when the pre-school and K-12 chain of schools was acquired by EuroKids International Pvt. Ltd.
Vora is independently also a private investor in several firms including Vini Cosmetics, a consumer goods company which raised funding from Sequoia Capital; Noida-based Soothe Healthcare Pvt. Ltd, the firm behind Paree brand of sanitary napkins; sports-focused digital display solutions firm Technology Frontiers, backed by Avigo Capital; and aircraft maintenance and repair company AirWorks, backed by private equity firms New Enterprise Associates and GTI Capital.
In March this year, Paytm E-commerce Pvt. Ltd raised $200 million (Rs 1,334 crore) from Alibaba and existing investor SAIF Partners. The investment increased the stake of Alibaba and its affiliate Ant Financial (the parent company of Alipay) in Paytm E-Commerce from 40% to 62%.
Vora now plans to launch a second venture fund, the size of which he declined to disclose, and a Rs 250-crore public markets fund focused on the consumer market in two to three months.
His investment firm's maiden fund, Sixth Sense India Opportunities-1, has made eight investments and counts Small Industries Development Bank of India (Sidbi) as its main investor. Some of Sixth Sense's recent investments include LEAP India, a Mumbai-based supply chain solutions company, and Soothe Healthcare, which makes the Paree brand sanitary napkins.
The firm's other investments include luxury watches retail chain operator Ethos and Cross Roads India Assistance, which provides road-side assistance for cars and two wheelers. While known for closely tracking listed retail and consumer goods companies, Vora also has been an active personal investor in privately held companies over the last decade.
His personal investments include Vini Cosmetics, a Sequoia Capital India-backed consumer goods company that sells the deodorant brand Fogg; online cosmetics retailer Purplle; and Air Works, an aviation maintenance and overhaul services provider that is backed by private equity firms New Enterprise Associates and GTI Capital. Pre-school chain Kangaroo Kids, another of his personal investments, was acquired by rival Eurokids
BW Reporters
Soumya is a young writer and journalist, with bachelors in Multimedia and Mass Communication. She is an alumini of the Asian College of Journalism, and finds politics and sustainability intriguing beats to work with.
