Grapevine: Temasek may invest in Zomato; Coatue may lead funding for Vedantu

By Ankit Agarwal

  • 30 Jun 2020
Credit: Reuters

Singapore’s Temasek is in discussions to invest up to $100 million (Rs 755 crore at current exchange rate) in online food delivery major Zomato as part of a larger investment round, people aware of the development told The Economic Times.

Previously in January, Ant Financial, the largest institutional stakeholder in Zomato with 26% stake, announced an investment of up to $150 million, of which only $50 million has been invested so far.

The remaining amount has been delayed due to the current anti-China sentiment and new foreign direct investment (FDI) rules.

In April, Zomato raised $5 million from Pacific Horizon Investment Trust, a fund managed by British investment manager Baillie Gifford, as a part of its ongoing round.

Meanwhile, online live tutoring platform Vedantu is in talks to raise $100 million (Rs 755 crore at current exchange rate) in a round of funding to be led by US-based hedge and investment fund Coatue Management at a valuation of $600 million (Rs 4,528 crore at current exchange rate), people in the know told The Economic Times.

The company last raised $42 million in its Series C round led by US-based Tiger Global and private equity firm WestBridge Capital in August 2019.

In another development, an arm of Indian telecommunications tycoon Sunil Mittal’s Bharti Enterprises has submitted a bid for London-based SoftBank-backed OneWeb, a bankrupt satellite firm, people with knowledge of the matter told The Economic Times.

The UK government plans to commit around $500 million (Rs 3,773 crore at current exchange rate) to OneWeb alongside other investors, a person with knowledge of the matter said last week. OneWeb has said that bids were due Friday.

Also, Hero Cycles has initiated talks with promoters of Atlas Cycles, one of the country’s oldest cycle brands, after the latter stopped production due to lack of funds, a Times of India report revealed.

“Being a zero net-debt company with cash reserves of over Rs 1,000 crore, Hero is aggressively looking at buying brands globally,” Pankaj Munjal, chairman of Hero Cycles told the Times of India.

In 2016, it had acquired 60% equity in Sri Lanka’s BSH Ventures, its third major acquisition within six months after acquiring a stake in UK-based Avocet Sports https://www.vccircle.com/hero-cycles-buy-controlling-stake-uk-based-cycle-distributor-avocet/.

In 2015, Hero Cycles had purchased the business of Fire-Fox Bikes in India for an undisclosed amount in an all-cash deal.

In January this year, the company had acquired stake in German premium e-bike maker HNF Nicolai.