Japan-based MUFG Bank and American conglomerate Koch Group have sought approval from the Competition Commission of India (CCI) to acquire minority stakes in Zomato-backed Shiprocket.
The ecommerce enablement platform is finalising the close of a $75 million funding round led by Silicon Valley investor Tribe Capital in a mix of primary and secondary transactions.
“The proposed transaction entails the acquisition of minority shareholding of the Shiprocket Private Ltd (Target) by the MUFG Bank, Ltd (Acquirer),” according to a notice filed with the CCI on Thursday.
According to a separate notice filed with the antitrust watchdog, the Koch Group, through its arm KDT Venture Holdings, has also proposed to pick up minority shareholding in Shiprocket. KDT Ventures Holdings is a US-based venture capital firm. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Koch Inc, which is led by billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch.
On October 23, ET reported that Shiprocket announced a 21% increase in operating revenue for fiscal 2024 at Rs 1,316 crore, its chief executive Saahil Goel said. The company, which undertook a restructuring in FY23 when it merged several of its acquisitions, saw a continued impact of this on its bottom line as net loss widened to Rs 595 crore for the fiscal year ended March 2024, compared with Rs 341 crore in the year before.
Shiprocket – the core business of which is managing shipments for direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands and online sellers – is now expanding efforts in other business lines such as cross-border shipping, checkout and fulfilment, which have grown by 70-100% year-on-year (YoY). These segments now contribute nearly a fifth to the company’s revenue.
Over the last few years, Shiprocket has made several acquisitions. These include retail software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform Omuni from Arvind Internet, ecommerce logistics solutions player Pickrr, omnichannel user engagement platform Wigzo and supply chain management firm Glaucus.
According to Tracxn, Bertelsmann India is the biggest shareholder in Shiprocket with almost 24% stake, followed by Tribe Capital at nearly 15%.
The company became a unicorn in 2022 when it raised $32 million at a valuation of $1.3 billion in a round led by Temasek and Lightrock.
Source: Economic Times