Online food delivery startup Swiggy is in advanced talks to raise up to $750 million (Rs 5,196.5 crore at current exchange rate) in a round of funding to be led by existing investor and South African conglomerate Naspers at a valuation of $4 billion, two people familiar with the matter told Mint.
Naspers will pump in half the amount and the remaining will be raised from other existing investors, said the report. A consortium of Korean investors, including STIC Investments and Korea Omega Investment, will put $50 million, they said.
“A total commitment of $540 million has come so far,” said one of the persons cited above.
Swiggy previously raised $1 billion at a valuation of $3.3 billion. According to industry estimates, Swiggy clocks 900,000 to one million daily orders, and burns close to $40 million every month, the report mentioned.
The fresh funds will be used to expand its footprint in new regions and strengthen the two new platforms, Swiggy Stores and Swiggy Daily, the report said.
Also, people in the know told The Economic Times that the family of the late coffee baron VG Siddhartha and US buyout fund Blackstone have agreed to resume talks for the sale of a 90-acre technology park in Bengaluru owned by the Coffee Day group at an estimated value of about Rs 3,000 crore ($433 million at current exchange rate).
If a transaction happens, it will help Coffee Day Enterprises to substantially reduce its debt and focus on putting the group back on track, the persons said.
Coffee Day group’s subsidiary Tanglin Retail Realty is the developer of the IT-focused Global Village Tech Park that has 4.5 million square feet of built-up area.
Meanwhile, US retailing behemoth Walmart is looking to invest $50 million (Rs 346.4 crore at current exchange rate) in NinjaCart, a fresh fruit and vegetable supply chain startup, three people in the know told The Economic Times, adding that the first tranche of up to $10 million is likely to close in the next three weeks.
Walmart will get a board seat in NinjaCart as part of the transaction, the report said.
In April, NinjaCart raised $90 million in a financing round from Tiger Global Management and was previously backed by investors including Qualcomm Ventures, Accel, Tanglin Venures, and Syngenta.
The company was in discussions with multiple large conglomerates for a potential investment, including Amazon India, the report said.
In another development, Vodafone Idea is set to monetise its stake in Indus Towers for up to Rs 6,000 crore ($866 million at current exchange rate) as part of the latter’s merger with Bharti Infratel, which is in the final stages, people close to the development told The Economic Times.
Vodafone Idea holds an 11.15% stake in Indus Towers. UK’s Vodafone Group owns about 45% of the telco and a 42% stake in Indus Towers. After the Indus Towers-Bharti Infratel merger is complete, the UK-based company will have a 29.4% stake in the resultant entity.
Providence Equity Partners, a private equity firm that owns a 4.85% stake in Indus Towers, will also monetise almost two-thirds of its holding, persons said.
Vodafone Idea’s exit and Providence’s partial stake sale, which in combination is pegged at around Rs 7,000 crore, will be funded by Bharti Infratel through a combination of internal accruals and short-term debt, the report said.
Separately, drug major Cipla is looking to invest up to Rs 170 crore ($24.5 million at current exchange rate) in online healthcare platform Medlife International Pvt. Ltd, three people aware of the discussions told The Times of India.
In May, Medlife acquired Bengaluru-based online medicine delivery startup Myra, . Last year, it acquired startup EClinic24/7, adding chat and video-based doctor consultations.
