Lightspeed exits PhysicsWallah with US$74.7M stake sale
What's the deal? Lightspeed Venture Partners has fully exited edtech company PhysicsWallah, selling its entire 1.61% stake for US$74.7M through a block deal on the NSE. Lightspeed Opportunity Fund II LPDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, an affiliate of the US firm, offloaded 46,698,120 shares of the Noida based company at an average price of US$1.6 each.
Who bought in? The deal drew 16 institutional investors, with ICICI Prudential Mutual FundDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → the largest buyer at 22 million shares, or roughly 0.76%, for US$35.2M. Five entities tied to Goldman SachsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → bought 8.96 million shares worth about US$14.3M, while Tata AIA Life InsuranceDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → acquired 3.39 million shares for around US$5.43M.
Other buyers included Morgan Stanley, Societe Generale, Citigroup Global MarketsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Viridian Asset ManagementDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Ghisallo Capital ManagementDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Mediolanum International FundsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and the New York State Teachers Retirement SystemDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →. Finland based OP Pohjola and Swiss bank J Safra Sarasin also participated.
Why now? The sale follows an improvement in PhysicsWallah's June quarter results. It narrowed its consolidated net loss to US$10.5M, from US$16.4M a year earlier.
Revenue from operations rose 24.4% to US$143.1M in the first quarter of the current financial year, up from US$115M. The growth came from its online and offline learning businesses.
The signal: An early backer cashing out fully as fresh institutional money moves in marks a shift in PhysicsWallah's shareholder base since its listing. Shares fell nearly 1% to US$1.7 on the day of the deal.
Image credit: jurvetson
