Prosus to buy additional ixigo shares from Peak XV Partners and Elevation Capital to increase stake to 15%

The additional 5 percent stake will cost Prosus another Rs 620-660 crore, taking its total investment in ixigo to around Rs 1,900-2,000 crore

Dutch technology investor Prosus, which picked up a 10.1 percent stake in travel aggregator ixigo (its parent Le Travenues Technology) on October 10, is stitching together another deal to further increase its stake in the online travel agency (OTA), people familiar with the development told Moneycontrol.

How much will Prosus own in ixigo?

Through the deals, Prosus will increase its stake from 10.1 percent to around 15 percent in ixigo.

“Peak XV Partners will sell about 3 percent to Prosus and Elevation Capital will sell another 2 percent to Prosus which will help the investor increase its stake by an additional 5 percent to around 15 percent,” one of the persons cited above said.

Peak XV Partners holds 10 percent in ixigo, as per market intelligence platform Screener. Elevation Capital, on the other hand, owns 5 percent of ixigo.

Prosus, Peak XV Partners and Elevation Capital did not reply to Moneycontrol’s queries.

How much is Prosus investing in ixigo?

Prosus has already invested Rs 1,295 crore in ixigo to pick up a 10.1 percent stake through preference shares, the company said on October 10. The money will go directly into the company’s coffers and will be used for operational needs.

“The additional 5 percent stake will cost Prosus another Rs 620-660 crore, taking its total investment in ixigo to around Rs 1,900-2,000 crore,” a source said.

The October 10 investment corresponds to a share price of Rs 280 apiece, slightly higher than the 10-day volume-weighted average price (VWAP).

On October 10, ixigo’s share price traded at Rs 315.70 apiece on the NSE, up 0.95 percent as of 1:15 pm.

What is Prosus’ strategy in India?

Prosus is looking to build a platform play in India, the world’s third-largest startup market.

Here, it backs several platforms: Meesho (e-commerce), Urban Company (services), Swiggy (food and groceries), Rapido (mobility platform), among others.

With the ixigo (travel) bet, it will look to re-enter the travel sector, a key focus area, in India.

Around 2007, it backed Goibibo and later sold it to MakeMyTrip (MMT) in 2017, making it a shareholder in MMT, India’s largest OTA player. It however sold that stake to China’s Ctrip later on.

In May this year, Prosus fully acquired Latin America’s Despegar for $1.7 billion to deepen its travel play.

Once the deal is complete, Prosus will become the single largest shareholder in ixigo.

It is also the first private investment in public entity (PIPE) deal for Prosus here in India.

“Going forward, Prosus will look at acquiring a healthy stake in companies either through private investments or via PIPE,” a source concluded.