Lightspeed exits PhysicsWallah in Rs 550-crore block deal; ICICI, Goldman buy in
What's the deal? Lightspeed Venture Partners has fully exited edtech company PhysicsWallah, selling its entire 1.61% stake for nearly Rs 550 crore through block deals on Wednesday. Lightspeed Opportunity Fund II LPDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → offloaded 4.67 crore shares at Rs 117.72 each on the open market.
Who's buying? A group of 12 institutional investors took the other side of the trade. ICICI Prudential Mutual FundDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → led the purchases with 2.2 crore shares — about 0.75% of paid-up equity, worth roughly Rs 258.98 crore.
The other buyers: Goldman SachsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, through five investment schemes, picked up 89.67 lakh shares for a 0.30% stake, worth about Rs 105.56 crore. Morgan Stanley Asia SingaporeDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Societe Generale, Citigroup Global Markets MauritiusDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and the New York State Teachers Retirement SystemDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → also joined.
What does the company do? Founded by Alakh Pandey and Prateek Maheshwari, PhysicsWallah operates across the education and test-preparation segments. In its most recent quarter, its net loss narrowed 36% and revenue topped Rs 1,000 crore.
Market reaction: PhysicsWallah shares climbed as much as 3.94% to Rs 126.13 during the session on heavy volumes, though the stock faced selling pressure at higher levels.
The signal: An early backer cashing out in full is offset by broad institutional demand. The lineup of domestic and global buyers stepping in points to continued appetite for the edtech firm's listed equity, even as one long-term investor closes its position.
Read more: ndtvprofit.com
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