Delhivery shares drop 4% amid block deal buzz; Softbank likely seller

Shares of Delhivery tumbled nearly 4% in opening trade on Friday, driven by a surge in volume trade amid a report that Japanese investment giant Softbank is looking to sell part of its stake in the e-commerce logistics company. As per the report, Softbank aims to raise around $150 million by selling around 4% stake in Delhivery via block deal route. Kotak Mahindra Capital is the broker for the block deal.

SoftBank, through its subsidiary Svf Doorbell (Cayman), owned a 14.5% stake in the logistics firm at the end of the September quarter of 2023, as per BSE data. Earlier in March this year, Masayoshi Son-led firm sold 3.8% of its stake in Delhivery. 

Snapping two sessions gaining streak, Delhivery shares opened 1.8% lower at ₹407 against the previous closing price of ₹414.35 on the BSE. In the early trade so far, the logistics stock dropped as much as 3.75% to ₹398.80 amid block deals.  

As many as 2.3 crore shares changed hands on the BSE in the early trade so far, compared to a two-week average volume of 0.15 lakh stocks. However, the name of buyer and seller cannot be ascertained as of now.

At the time of reporting, the stock was trading at ₹402.15, down 2.9%, while the market capitalisation stood at ₹29,600 crore. At the current price level, Delhivery, which made its stock market debut on May 24, 2022, shares trade 11% lower than its 52-week high of ₹452 touched on September 5, 2023. The counter gained 38% against its 52-week low of ₹291 on January 27, 2023.

In the last one year, Delhivery shares have risen nearly 10%, while it has gained 21.5% on a year-to-date basis. In the past six months, the counter added 11.5%, while it fell over 5% in a month.

In June this year, another major investor, American private equity firm Carlyle exited the logistics service provider by selling its 2.53% shares for ₹709 crore. Earlier, Tiger Global had offloaded 1.2 crore shares at ₹335 apiece.

In 2017, Carlyle made its first investment in the logistics startup with a $100 million funding round and further infused funds in 2019 in a $395 million round led by Japan-based SoftBank.

For the July-September quarter of the financial year 2023-24 (Q2FY24), Delhivery saw its consolidated net loss narrowing by 51% to ₹103 crore, compared to a loss of ₹254 crore in the corresponding period last year. The revenue from operations rose by 8% to ₹1,914 crore, from ₹1,796 crore in the year-ago period.

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