SoftBank trims stake in PolicyBazaar parent PB Fintech by 2.5%
Japanese investment holding company SoftBank has sold an additional 2.54% stake, or 11.4 million shares, in PolicyBazaar's parent company, PB Fintech Ltd., through a bulk deal. These shares were sold at a price of Rs. 762.8 each. Before this transaction, SoftBank owned a 4.39% stake in PB Fintech via its entity SVF Python II (Cayman) Ltd. After the sale, SVF Python II (Cayman) holds a 1.85% stake in the firm.
Societe Generale acquires shares
Financial service company Societe Generale acquired 0.58%, or 2.6 million shares, in PB Fintech at the same price as SoftBank's sale. This follows SoftBank's December 2022 sale of a 5.1% stake valued at Rs. 1,043 crore in PB Fintech through an open market transaction at an average price of Rs. 456.4 per share. Buyers included Goldman Sachs Singapore Pte, Societe Generale, Morgan Stanley Mauritius, and Max Life Insurance Company.
PB Fintech's performance and financials
PB Fintech has outperformed the Nifty 50 index over the past year, delivering a return of 55% to investors compared to the index's return of 13.4%. However, the stock is still trading 21% below its listing price of Rs. 980 apiece on the NSE. For the June quarter, PB Fintech reported a consolidated net loss of Rs. 11.4 crore, down significantly from Rs. 204 crore YoY, while operational revenues increased by 32% YoY to Rs. 666 crore.
PolicyBazaar's journey
PolicyBazaar was founded in 2008 by Yashish Dahiya and Alok Bansal as a price-comparison platform and made its public market debut in November 2021, gaining 17% at the time of listing. SoftBank offloaded around 20% of its total stake in the insurance player during the listing for as much as $250 million. At the time of writing, shares were trading at Rs. 758.55 apiece, down 0.44% from the previous close.
