SoftBank Group is facing losses from the SoftBank Vision Fund, which had widened 70% to a record $32 billion from a year ago. Now the Japanese investment firm is aiming to turn a profit on its bets following a recent rally in their share prices. Softbank reported a record annual loss of $7.2 billion (₹58,962.60 crore) for the fiscal year ending March 2023.
According to media reports, SoftBank may sell its shares, in Paytm and Zomato, in small tranches on the open market rather than in block deals. Softbank holds 11.17% stake in Paytm and 3.4% in Zomato.
Notably, Paytm and Zomato's shares have been rising substantially since the beginning of this month, owing to better market sentiment about them as a result of both startups exceeding their EBITDA profitability targets ahead of expectations.
In November last year, SoftBank sold a 4.5% stake in Paytm through block deals for $200 million, which led to a sharp fall in the shares of the Indian payment company.
Paytm went public in 2021, in India's biggest-ever IPO, but the shares skidded as low as 70% below listing price in the months after the listing. SoftBank has invested $1.6 billion in Paytm over the years, among its biggest investments in India
SoftBank had also recently sold a part of its stake in eyewear company Lenskart to private equity firm ChrysCapital, and made cash of over $70 million (₹573.16 crore) from the stake sale.
SoftBank’s active investments in Indian startups have slowed this year after a series of losses incurred by its Vision Fund. Even though, in last month it was reported that Softbank is in talks with four to five Indian Startups, to invest about $4-$5 million in each, with valuations of around $400 to $500 million.
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