SoftBank divests 3.25% stake in Lenskart for ₹2,873 crore; holding drops to 9.88%

Technology investor SoftBank ​Group on Wednesday divested a 3.25% stake in eyewear firm Lenskart Solutions for ₹2,873 crore through an open market transaction.

Softbank through its affiliate SVF II Lightbulb (Cayman) Ltd offloaded 5,65,00,000 shares representing a 3.25% stake in Lenskart Solutions, according to the block deal data available on the National Stock Exchange (NSE).

The shares were disposed of at an average price of ₹508.55 apiece, taking the deal value to ₹2,873.30 crore.

Following the stake sale, Softbank's holding in Lenskart through its arm dropped to 9.88% from 13.13%.

A clutch of investors including domestic institutional and foreign investors participated in the transaction.

WhiteOak Capital Mutual Fund (MF), Mirae Asset MF, Kotak MF, Canara Robeco MF, ICICI Prudential MF, HDFC Life Insurance Company, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, Societe Generale, Metzler Asset Management, Goldman Sachs, Fidelity, Copthall Mauritius Investment, International Monetary Fund, and Dendana Investments (Mauritius) Ltd were the buyers of the shares.

Shares of Lenskart Solutions slipped 1.58% to close at ₹515.90 apiece on the NSE.

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. ​

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

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