Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley among investors buying ₹1,960-crore Lenskart stake from ADIA

Global financial institutions, including Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Societe Generale, on Thursday collectively bought a 2.3% stake in eyewear firm Lenskart Solutions from Abu Dhabi Investment Authority for ₹1,960 crore through open market transactions.

Following the stake purchase, shares of Lenskart Solutions rose 0.37% to close at ₹502 apiece on the NSE.

Other foreign investors who participated in the transaction include Integrated Core Strategies (Asia) Pte Ltd, Ghisallo Capital Management, Citigroup Global Markets Mauritius and Hong-Kong based investment manager Viridian Asset Management.

Among domestic institutional investors, ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund (MF), Kotak Mahindra MF, Mirae Asset MF, SBI MF, Canara Robeco MF, Franklin Templeton MF, Aditya Birla Sun Life MF, and Mumbai-based Alpha Alternatives Holdings also bought shares of Lenskart.

Insurance firms, including ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company, Kotak Mahindra Life Insurance, HDFC Life Insurance and National Pension System (NPS) Trust, also participated in the transaction, according to the block deal data available on the National Stock Exchange (NSE).

The investors collectively purchased a total of 4,00,00,000 shares, amounting to a 2.3% stake in Lenskart Solutions.

The shares were picked up at an average price of ₹490 apiece, taking the combined transaction value to ₹1,960 crore.

Meanwhile, Platinum Jasmine A 2018 Trust offloaded the same number of shares in Peyush Bansal-led eyewear retailer.

Sovereign wealth fund Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) is the sole beneficiary and settlor of the Platinum Jasmine A 2018 Trust.

After the latest transaction, ADIA's holding in Lenskart dropped to 9.78% from 12.08%.

Last week, technology investor SoftBank Group divested a 3.25% stake in Lenskart Solutions for ₹2,873 crore. SoftBank was one of Lenskart's largest shareholders before the company went public.

Last month, Lenskart reported a 7.5% year-on-year decline in consolidated profit after tax (PAT) to ₹203.6 crore in the March quarter due to a rise in expenses on components and inventories.

The company had posted a PAT of ₹220.1 crore in the same period a year ago, according to a regulatory filing.

Its revenue from operations grew 45.62% to around ₹2,516 crore in the March quarter from ₹1,728 crore in the year-ago period, it added.

Lenskart has a presence across online and offline channels. It operates thousands of stores across India and in the overseas markets, and also manufacture eyewear products through its in-house facilities.

(Except for the headline, Fortune India has not edited the content of this PTI report.)