Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal likely to sell $100-million stake in Bhavish Aggarwal’s Ola: Report | Company Business News

Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal has planned to sell his stake in Bhavish Aggarwal’s Ola. Bansal, who invested $100 million in the ride-hailing company in 2019, wants to sell the stake, reported Economic Times on Tuesday.

The deal will be finalised on the basis of valuation, where Bansal has asked for a premium by valuing Ola at nearly $4 billion to sell his stake. During the time of investment, the company was reportedly valued at $3 billion.

Both Bansal and Aggarwal have known each other for more than a decade, and they have built their companies in accordance with their foreign rivals, such as Uber and Amazon.

They have discussed the proposal for Bansal’s stake in the company. Discussions have been held with a group of large family offices and private investment units of investors investing in public markets, the report said, citing people who are aware of the matter.

Prior to this, Bansal had sold his stake in the IPO-bound Ather Energy to the co-founder of Zerodha, Nikhil Kamath.

The Flipkart co-founder has been focusing on Navi, his fintech venture, for the last year. He is selling his stake in Ola to invest in his own startup, the report said, citing people close to Bansal. Additionally, he looking for external fundraising for Navi, however, there is no decision on it yet.

“Yes, the deal has come to us. The idea being this could be an entry in Ola right before the IPO, but valuation at which Bansal agrees will be key to the deal,” the report quoted a person who has reviewed the proposal.

Navi’s issues

Navi is facing regulatory issues to raise funds externally, the report said. In October, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) prohibited the non-financial service company Navi Finserv from lending due to high interest rates. However, this restriction was lifted on December 2.