As per speculations, US based private equity major General Atlantic is in talk to get substantial minority stake in Gurgaon based online food & restaurant discovery platform Zomato.com. General Atlantic LLC is a global growth equity investment firm partnering with entrepreneurs and management teams and providing capital for large minority and majority stakes.
As speculated earlier also, Zomato is willing to raise $200 million, via private equity firms like Tybourne Capital Management and Steadview Capital along with its existing investors Info Edge and Sequoia Capital.
General Atlantic is looking to invest up to $100 million (Rs 600 crore) even as Zomato's existing investors, Sequoia Capital and Info Edge, have put in a rival bid which values it at $400 million (Rs 2,400 crore). Info Edge is an early backer of the Gurgaon based company which still owns 50% of stakes in it.
General Atlantic is chasing India's internet commerce sector after having famously pulled out of a funding deal with Flipkart more than three years ago.
General Atlantic has approximately $17 billion in assets under management and has more than 200 employees based in 11 cities across the globe including Mumbai in India. Founded in 1980, General Atlantic is the 7th largest private equity firm in the world, with approximately $16.6 billion of capital raised over the preceding five-year period.
Zomato and other Indian startups are now attracting growth capital from bulge-bracket private equity firms, signalling the fervent interest of investors in consumer-facing internet companies.
As per sources, a third bidder is also lining up to pick up a stake valuing Zomato at $800 million, bringing the startup closer to the elite billion dollar club of Indian startups.
There are two competing bids; either General Atlantic does it or Sequoia and Info Edge go through and make the investment. It could also veer towards the third potential investor which has shown interest recently.
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