Zomato shares fall over 6 percent

NEW DELHI: Shares of Zomato Ltd fell by over 6 percent on Monday after the announcement that the online food delivery platform will acquire Blink Commerce Pvt Ltd (formerly known as Grofers) for Rs 4,447.48 crore.

The stock declined 6.40 percent to settle at Rs 65.85 on the BSE. During the day, it fell 7.53 percent to Rs 65.05.

At the NSE, it went lower by 6.59 percent to settle at Rs 65.85 apiece.

Zomato Ltd on Friday said it will acquire Blink Commerce Pvt Ltd for Rs 4,447.48 crore in a share swap deal as part of its strategy of investing in quick commerce business.

The company's board at a meeting held on Friday approved the acquisition of up to 33,018 equity shares of Blink Commerce Pvt Ltd from its shareholders for a total purchase consideration of Rs 4,447.48 crore for Rs 13.45 lakh per equity share, Zomato said in a regulatory filing.

Blink Commerce Pvt Ltd runs the online quick commerce service under the Blinkit brand. It was formerly known as Grofers.

The transaction will be carried out through issuance and allotment of up to 62.85 crore fully paid-up equity shares of Zomato having a face value of Re 1 each for Rs 70.76 per equity share on a preferential basis, it added.

The company already holds 1 equity share and 3,248 preference shares presently in BCPL, the filing said.

''This high cash burning sector houses fierce competition from the likes of Zepto, Dunzo, Swiggy Instamart, BigBasket, etc and it will be interesting to see how this expensive investment by Zomato pans out in the future,'' said Shivam Bajaj, Founder, and CEO at Avener Capital, on Zomato - Blinkit deal.