Alipay likely seller in a $400Mn block sale of Zomato shares today

Alibaba, which held a nearly 9.83% stake in India’s publicly listed food delivery unicorn Zomato through AntFin and Alipay, has reportedly sold of a large chunk — nearly 3.4% via Alipay today. The news first came in via Reuters yesterday, and a large block sale worth ₹3,326.4 crore (~$400Mn) today indicates that the sell-off has been executed.

The Reuters report further mentions Bank of America and Morgan Stanley as advisers on the deal.

After having a forgettable and rather tumultuous 2022, Zomato’s share price has been giving sizeable returns to early and pre-IPO investors. The company has posted significantly better-than-expected financial results for two consecutive quarters — including EBIDTA positivity — which has further helped fuel the share price’s rise. The stock has gained nearly 90% in this calendar year (2023), and despite a large block deal sell-off, continues to gain even today.

Alibaba — through Alipay — is the second big foreign investor to be exiting from Zomato. Earlier this year, Japanese conglomerate Softbank had also exited the food delivery company, selling 1.1% stake. Tiger Global too cashed out by divesting 1.44% stake for ₹1,124 crore, while Alibaba had cashed out in November last year for a nearly $200Mn block deal.