Peyush Bansal, co-founder and chief executive officer of Lenskart, is in talks to secure a loan of Rs 200 crore and use the proceeds to increase his stake in the company, people aware of the developments told Moneycontrol. Nearly all of Lenskart’s investors, including SoftBank, Chiratae, TR Capital and others, are selling some shares in the company to Bansal as he looks to have more skin in the game ahead of a public market debut.
However, Bansal is negotiating to buy shares in the eyewear startup at a valuation of $1 billion (Rs 8,500 crore), a tenth of the $10 billion (Rs 85,000 crore) valuation the firm is likely to aim for at the time of its initial public offering, slated for later this year, sources added.
To be sure, Lenskart’s price tag of $10 billion was already double of $5 billion, the valuation it commanded during a series of secondary transactions in June 2024 where Temasek and Fidelity picked up shares worth $200 million in the company.
In fact, if Bansal successfully buys Lenskart shares at a valuation of $1 billion, it would mean the company’s valuation has returned to 2019 levels.
Bansal, who already owns around 4 percent in Lenskart, is looking to increase his stake in the company by another 2 percentage points, through the loan he is taking out, and take his total ownership to about 6 percent by buying shares from investors.
Apart from that, Bansal also owns some shares from the employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) pool, which accounts for around 19 percent ownership in the company, as per Tracxn, a private markets data provider.
Lenskart and Bansal did not reply to Moneycontrol’s emails and text messages. The story will be updated if they respond. Chiratae and SoftBank did not reply to queries.
To be sure, founders buying company shares from their investors, at significantly marked down valuations, ahead of an IPO is not uncommon. Sriharsha Majety, co-founder and CEO of Swiggy and Supam Maheshwari, co-founder and CEO, FirstCry, were among the founders who made similar moves before their public market listings.
$1 billion IPO
Lenskart, which is aiming to file its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) in the coming weeks, is preparing to raise $1 billion through an IPO at a valuation of $10 billion, Moneycontrol had reported earlier. Kotak, Axis Capital, Citi, Morgan Stanley and Avendus are the bankers for the issue.
While Lenskart was profitable in the past, it has been incurring losses in recent years as it expands operations. In FY24, the company recorded a loss of Rs 10 crore on the back of Rs 5,427-crore revenues, filings showed.
The company is yet to file its FY25 results.Founded by Peyush and Neha Bansal, Amit Chaudhary, Ramneek Khurana and Sumeet Kapahi, Lenskart sells prescription glasses, sunglasses, and other eyewear accessories across India, the UAE, Singapore, and Japan has raised over $1 billion from ADIA, ChrysCap, SoftBank, Alpha Wave and several others.
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