Premji Invest divests 1% stake in PB Fintech for Rs 457 crore

Azim Premji

Billionaire Azim Premji's private equity fund Premji Invest on Friday divested a 1 percent stake in Policybazaar's parent firm PB Fintech for Rs 457 crore through an open market transaction. Premji Invest through its affiliate PI Opportunities Fund II offloaded the shares of PB Fintech on the BSE.

According to the bulk deal data available with the BSE, PI Opportunities Fund II sold 46,43,528 shares, amounting to a 1 percent stake in PB Fintech. The shares were sold at an average price of Rs 985.07 apiece, taking the transaction value to Rs 457.42 crore.

After the latest transaction, PI Opportunities Fund II shareholdings in PB Fintech have declined to 0.93 percent from 1.93 percent. Details of the buyers could not be ascertained.

Shares of PB Fintech fell 1.41 percent to close at Rs 982.85 apiece on the BSE. PB Fintech was co-founded by Yashish Dahiya and Alok Bansal in 2008. The company operates online insurance aggregator Policybazaar and credit comparison portal Paisabazaar. The company made its stock market debut in November 2021.

On Thursday, Singaporean sovereign wealth fund Temasek Holdings sold its entire 5.42 percent stake in Policybazaar's parent firm PB Fintech for Rs 2,425 crore. On Tuesday, PB Fintech Ltd reported a net profit for the first time in the third quarter of this fiscal at Rs 37.2 crore.

In the corresponding quarter last year, PB Fintech posted a net loss of Rs 87.6 crore. The company's revenue from operations jumped 42.7 percent to Rs 870.9 crore in the October-December quarter against Rs 610.1 crore recorded in the corresponding period of the preceding fiscal.