SoftBank marks down valuations of India's Ola, Snapdeal

The Japanese conglomerate's earnings report for the six months ended September includes a loss of JPY58.1 billion ($550.7 million) - compared to a profit of JPY112.6 billion for the same period in 2015 - as a result of changes in the fair value of preferred stock in companies such as Ola and Snapdeal. A JPY29.6 billion portion of this loss was attributed to appreciation in the yen.

SoftBank has invested aggressively in India over the last three years, leading a $210 million Series D round for Ola in October 2014 and then committing $627 million to Snapdeal the same month. It has participated in follow-on rounds for both companies.

Ola most recently raised $500 million from a group led by Baillie Gifford in November 2015 at a valuation of $5 billion, taking its overall funding to approximately $1.3 billion. Snapdeal is said to have secured $200 million from investors - at valuation of $6.5 billion - in February of this year.

They are not the only Indian start-ups to see their valuations marked down by investors who took part in large and relatively late-stage rounds. In May, Morgan Stanley Institutional Fund Trust revised the valuation of its investment in Flipkart, a direct competitor to Snapdeal, for the second quarter in a row, reducing its estimate by 15.5%. T. Rowe Price has also marked down Flipkart.

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Save this article  
• Send to  

• Topics
• South Asia
• Expansion
• Performance
• Technology
• India
• TMT
• Softbank