Zomato block deal! Alibaba to sell shares worth $200 mn tomorrow at 5-6% discount, says report

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group plans to sell around 3 per cent stake in Indian food delivery firm Zomato for $200 million in a block deal, said a report on Tuesday.

Ant Financial and Alipay would reduce their stake in Zomato to around 10 per cent, CNBC Aawaz reported quoting sources.

According to the report, the block deal will take place at a discount of about 5-6 per cent. Morgan Stanley would act as the transaction's broker.

Alibaba's partial exit occurs at a time when Zomato has recently experienced a string of senior-level departures. The company has also started making layoffs in order to reduce its workforce by 4 per cent. Zomato’s co-founder, Mohit Gupta, had resigned earlier this month after about five years at the company.

Even though the company has experienced rapid revenue growth in recent quarters, Zomato's share price has dropped by more than 55 per cent this year.

Since the one-year lock-in period for approximately 613 crore shares, or 78 percent of the company's stock, expired on July 23, Alibaba has become the latest investor to sell Zomato shares in bulk.

Some of the largest shareholders, including Sequoia Capital India, Tiger Global Management, Uber, and Delivery Hero, have reduced their stakes in August via block deals or open market operations.

On the National Stock Exchange, Zomato closed 1.63 per cent lower at Rs 63.35.

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