PE: PhonePe raised $350 million funding from General Atlantic

Transaction:

  • PhonePe raised $350 million growth funds at a pre money valuation of $12 billion, led by General Atlantic. Marquee Global and Indian investors also participated in the round.
  • The investment marks the first tranche of an up to $1 billion total fundraise that commenced in January 2023.
  • Announcement follows PhonePe’s recent full separation from Flipkart and change of domicile to India. The PhonePe Group was earlier acquired by the Flipkart Group in 2016.

About PhonePe:

  • PhonePe was founded in December 2015, and has emerged as India’s largest payments app, enabling digital inclusion for consumers and merchants alike.
  • PhonePe today has over 435+ million registered users and over 35 million offline merchants spread across Tier 2, 3, and 4 cities and beyond, covering 99% of pin codes in the country.
  • PhonePe is the market leader in terms of UPI transaction volumes with 47% market share; Google pay and PayTM has market share of 34% and 15% respectively.
  • PhonePe is also the leader in Bharat Bill Pay System (BBPS), processing over 45% of the transactions on the BBPS platform.

About General Atlantic:

  • Established in 1980, General Atlantic currently has over $73 billion in assets under management inclusive of all products, and more than 215 investment professionals based in various countries.

Rationale:

  • PhonePe plans to deploy the new funds to make significant investments in infrastructure, including the development of data centers and help build financial services offerings at scale in the country.
  • The company also plans to invest in new businesses, including Insurance, Wealth Management, and Lending.
  • The fundraise is expected to support PhonePe as it seeks to turbo-charge the next wave of growth for UPI payments in India, including UPI lite and Credit on UPI to enable greater financial inclusion for Indians.
  • Earlier it was reported that PhonePe is preparing for IPO, though there was no official confirmation.
  • For FY22, PhonePe reported revenue of Rs 1,646 Crore up by 138% for year-on-year basis. Loss for the FY22 widened to Rs 2,014 Crore up from Rs 1,729 Crore in FY21.

Acknowledgements: 

RBI Bulletin (www.bulletin.rbi.org.in), SEBI (www.sebi.gov.in), NSE (www.nseindia.com), BSE (www.bseindia.com)

Disclaimer:

This material has been prepared by the personnel in Vora Corporate Finance which is Investment Banking arm of Vora Management Consultancy Private Limited and looks after Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A), Private Equity (PE), Fund Raising, Debt syndication and Valuations and is based out of Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. Any views or opinions expressed herein are solely that of individual authors and may differ from view of Vora Management Consultancy Private Limited. This material is proprietary to Vora Management Consultancy Private Limited and is for your personal use only. Any distribution, copy, reprints or forward to others is strictly prohibited.

This material captures the information based on information available in the public domain, public announcements and sources believed to be reliable. Analysis contained herein is based on publicly available information and appropriate assumptions. This material is intended merely to highlight market developments and is not intended to be comprehensive and does not constitute strategic, investment, legal or tax advice. In no event Vora Management Consultancy Private Limited be liable for any use by any party or for any decision made or action taken by any party in reliance upon, or for any inaccuracies or errors in, or omissions from, the information contained herein and such information may not be relied upon by you for evaluating any transaction. 

#mergersandacquisitions #privateequity #ipo #debt #debtsyndication #valuations #rating #creditrating #financeadvisory #finance #economy #indianeconomy #fundraising #capitalmarket #capital #banking #m&a #ma #pe #initialpublicoffer #businessloan #loan #businessvaluation #registeredvaluer #acquisition #merger #deals #financialdeals #ahmedabad #gujarat #india #ratingadvisory#primarymarket #secondarymarket #mergersandacquisitionsahmedabad #maahmedabad #privateequityahmedabad #ipoahmedabad #financeadvisoryahmedabad #stockmarket