New Delhi (TIP)- Ride-hailing services provider Ola has decided to shut down operations in the UK, Australia and New Zealand and will continue to focus on India business, its promoter ANI Technologies said. The Softbank-backed company said that it sees immense opportunity for expansion in India. “Our ride-hailing business is growing rapidly, and we remain profitable and segment leaders in India. The future of mobility is electric – not just in personal mobility, but also for the ride-hailing business and there is immense opportunity for expansion in India.
With this clear focus, we have reassessed our priorities and have decided to shut down our overseas ride-hailing business in its current form in the UK, Australia and New Zealand,” an Ola Mobility spokesperson said.
The company had launched these operations in phases in 2018. ANI Technologies has reported a narrowing of consolidated net loss to Rs 772.25 crore in the fiscal 2023, according to a regulatory filing. The company posted a consolidated loss of Rs 1,522.33 crore in the financial year (FY) 2022.
The consolidated revenue from operations increased by about 48 per cent to Rs 2,481.35 crore in FY23 from Rs 1,679.54 crore in the year-ago period. On a standalone basis, ANI Technologies, which comprises a ride-hailing business, has reported a narrowing of loss to Rs 1,082.56 crore in FY23 compared to a loss of Rs 3,082.42 crore in FY22. Source: PTI
Tag: SoftBank
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Ola to shut ops in Britain, Australia, New Zealand; to focus on India
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Softbank sells 1.16% stake in Zomato for Rs 947 crore
Japanese conglomerate Softbank on Wednesday, August 30, divested a 1.16% stake in online food ordering company Zomato for Rs 947 crore through an open market transaction.
Softbank through its affiliate SVF Growth (Singapore) Pte offloaded the shares of Zomato on the National Stock Exchange. Aditya Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund (MF), Axis MF, Franklin Tempelton MF, Kotak Mahindra MF, Societe Generale, Morgan Stanley Asia Singapore, Nomura Singapore, Goldman Sachs and Ghisallo Master Fund LP were among the buyers of shares of Zomato. -
SoftBank shares surge after Alibaba unveils six-way split of its businesses
Tokyo (TIP)- SoftBank Group Corp. surged in Tokyo trading after Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. announced a six-way split of its businesses, fueling optimism for a recovery at one of the Japanese company’s most important holdings. The Tokyo-based company’s stock rose as much as 6.2% in early trading, the biggest intraday move since October.
“There had been anxiety over the global banking system, but that has started to subside. And now we have this Alibaba news, which is clearly a positive for SoftBank,” said Naoki Fujiwara, chief fund manager at Shinkin Asset Management. “The expectation is for the spinoff units to have their businesses properly valued, which will boost Alibaba’s overall corporate value.”
SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son has relied on his Alibaba stake in recent years to generate cash for other startup investments and to compensate for losses in his portfolio. Alibaba’s market capitalization slid with the Chinese government’s crackdown on tech giants though, falling from a peak of more than $850 billion in 2020 to about $220 billion before the breakup announcement. Alibaba shares rose 14% in New York trading after the split announcement, pushing its market value to about $255 billion. Still, SoftBank is working through other challenges among its portfolio companies, which may moderate any stock gains.
“It’s going to be a slow recovery from here,” said Fujiwara. “The upside for the stock price will be capped until we see an overall turn around in sentiment for Nasdaq and technology firms.” Source: Bloomberg -
SoftBank pauses China investing as crackdown roils portfolio
TOKYO (TIP): SoftBank Group Corp will pause its investing in China as it waits for regulatory action against the country’s tech firms to play out, Chief Executive Masayoshi Son said
“Until the situation is clearer we want to wait and see,” Son told a news conference. “In a year or two I believe new rules will create a new situation.”
When the Japanese conglomerate posted record annual profit in May executives pointed to further upside from Vision Fund investments such as Chinese ride-hailing firm Didi Global Inc (DIDI.N) and “Uber for trucks” startup Full Truck Alliance Co Ltd.
Those companies listed in New York but Chinese regulatory action has subsequently hammered valuations, underscoring SoftBank’s China risk even as the group seeks to reduce dependence on its largest asset, a stake in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.
The shift has cast a chill on SoftBank’s investing in China, which makes up about a quarter of its funds’ portfolio.
While the crackdown has affected returns expectations, “our broader thesis in China is unchanged: It’s still a large, growing and compelling economic opportunity,” said Navneet Govil, the chief financial officer of Vision Fund.
The Vision Fund unit on Tuesday posted a first quarter profit of 236 billion yen ($2.14 billion) as gains from listings were offset by falling shares in firms like South Korean e-retailer Coupang Inc .
The China turmoil is clouding the outlook for the group, shares of which have slipped a third from two-decade highs in March amid the completion of a record 2.5 trillion yen buyback. Shares closed up 0.9% ahead of earnings.
“Having a large public portfolio introduces volatility but at the same time it allows us to continue to monetise in a very disciplined manner,” said Govil.
Share price weakness and sell-side analyst speculation have driven expectation that a buyback may be imminent.
“Until now we have sold assets and announced a buyback. This time there was no event like that,” Son said.
Given the gap between the group’s share price and the value of its assets, he added, “I guess we will do a buyback sometime. The timing and size is something we consider daily.”
VISION FUND UPSIDE
More than two-thirds of the portfolio of the first $100 billion Vision Fund is listed or exited. SoftBank has distributed $27 billion to its limited partners since inception.
Further upside will come from listings by Indian payments firm Paytm and insurance aggregator Policybazaar as well as southeast Asian ridehailer Grab, which is due go public via a blank-cheque company merger, Govil said.
SoftBank is also ramping up investing through Vision Fund 2, to which it has committed $40 billion of capital, with the unit making 47 new investments worth $14.2 billion in the April-June quarter alone. Source: Reuters
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Japan’s SoftBank invests $200 million in largest crypto exchange of Brazil
Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp has invested $200 million in Mercado Bitcoin, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in Latin America, said Roberto Dagnoni, executive chairman and chief executive officer of 2TM Group, the trading platform’s parent company.
The investment, raised in a Series B funding round, was made through SoftBank Latin America Fund and represents the Japanese multinational company’s largest investment in a Latin American crypto company. As a result of the investment, 2TM said its valuation reached $2.1 billion.
The SoftBank capital raise comes at a time when investor sentiment on cryptocurrencies has soured amid regulatory crackdowns in China, Britain and Japan. That has led to outflows from crypto investment products and funds the last few weeks.
Dagnoni, however, was unfazed by the current slump in cryptocurrencies. “We are strong believers in the fundamentals of crypto,” Dagnoni told Reuters in a phone interview.
Mercado Bitcoin will use the funds to scale its operations, expand offerings, and invest in infrastructure to meet rising demand for crypto in the region, 2TM said in a statement. “The platform is quite integrated. So custody is very important in releasing the power of the institutional market,” Dagnoni said in the interview.
Source: Reuters
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‘SoftBank could invest over $4 billion in India’
Masayoshi Son-led SoftBank Group Corp. could put more than $4 billion to work in India in 2021 across myriad technology bets, including software as a service (SaaS), B2B marketplaces, e-commerce, health-tech and ed-tech. The investments will come from Japanese company’s Vision Fund 2, which has an investment outlay of up to $30 billion for the current calendar year. “In India, we’ve already invested more than $2 billion in 8-9 companies in the first five months of this year…a few deals are yet to be announced. And we will continue to invest if we find the right opportunities. We anticipate investing a similar size in the remainder of this year,” SoftBank Vision Fund chief executive officer Rajeev Misra said in an interview from London. Among its new bets this year, Vision Fund 2 led a $300 million investment in Meesho in April, catapulting the social commerce platform’s post-money valuation to $2.1 billion.