Travel platform ixigo (Le Travenues Technology Limited) on Friday morning informed the exchanges that its board has approved a primary investment from investment firm Prosus (MIH Investments One B.V.) through a preferential issue of equity shares.
The investment, subject to shareholder approval, will be a sum of Rs. 1295.56 Crores (US $146 million) for a 10.1% stake in ixigo on a fully diluted basis, corresponding to a share price of Rs. 280 per share, a slight premium over the 10-day Volume-Weighted Average Price (VWAP) of ixigo as on the relevant date for the transaction.
On Friday, the company’s shares were trading at about 316 a piece, commanding a market capitalisation of Rs 12,370 crore.
The company intends to utilise the proceeds for organic growth opportunities, inorganic growth opportunities, working capital needs and general corporate purposes.
Up to 25% of the proceeds (up to Rs323.89 crore ) will be utilised on organic growth opportunities, including investment in new artificial intelligence platforms and services.
Up to 25% of the proceeds is proposed to be utilised towards unidentified acquisitions and inorganic growth opportunities. Up to 25% of the proceeds is kept for meeting the working capital requirements and a maximum of 25% of the fund is kept for meeting ongoing general corporate exigencies and contingencies.
“The dawn of the Al era presents us with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reimagine our company's Al-native future. Companies that will succeed in the next decade will look very different from those that exist today, given the pace of technological change we are witnessing,” said ixigo.
A long-term investor in India with over $8.6 billion in capital deployed to date, Prosus was a major investor in Flipkart and Goibibo. Today, it operates PayU in India and its investment portfolio includes Swiggy, Meesho, UrbanCompany and Rapido. Its global portfolio includes Tencent, OLX, iFood, JustEatTakeaway and Despegar.
