Info Edge founder Sanjeev Bikhchandani
There has been no change in the private market valuation as yet and might take six to eight months, after public market correction, said Info Edge founder and executive vice chairman, Sanjeev Bikhchandani.
Speaking to analysts on Monday after the company’s results announcement on January 28, Bikhchandani said, “The space (private markets) remains as busy as earlier. There have been statements made by Sequoia, Softbank and Tiger that private valuations are going to correct. But we haven’t seen evidence on the ground just yet when we go and talks to companies and compete.”
He explained that there are a couple of things that need to be taken into consideration.
If there is a committed pool for capital in private markets in India, their mandate is to go to private markets.
“That pool of capital is not going to reduce. If they have to invest in three years, they have to invest in three years. Structurally they cannot go anywhere,” Bikhchandani.
Then comes the question of negotiation about if one can get something cheaper or not. “We have yet to see evidence of that. In general my sense is that it takes 4-6 months, or maybe 8 months, for private markets to correct after the public markets correction. It does not happen immediately and we have seen this earlier,” Bikhchandani.
This comment comes at a time when technology stocks in India and the US have taken a beating.
Newly listed internet companies such as Zomato, Policybazaar, Nykaa, CarTrade and Paytm have fallen between 10-30 percent in the last five days, data indicates. From their listing highs, they have fallen as much as 50 percent. Info Edge was an investor in Zomato and PolicyBazaar. Ixigo, where Info Edge is an investor, is up for IPO.
Info Edge’s job recruitment site Naukri India’s billing saw 85 percent year-on-year (YoY) increase at Rs 309 crore for the quarter ending December 31, 2021. According to CEO & MD Hitesh Oberoi, this frenzy in IT hiring is similar to that of what the sector saw during its heady days 15 years ago.
For the quarter ended December 2021, the overall billings stood at Rs 468.1 crore, up 58 percent compared to the same period last year. The billings stood at Rs 760 crore, up 82 percent YoY, between April and December 2021, and overall billing stood at Rs 1,184.7 crore.
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