Fri. Mar 29th, 2024
Rakesh Jhunjhunwala

Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, a well-known stock market investor, has invested around ₹180 crore in Mumbai-based mobile gaming company Nazara Technologies.

Nitish Mittersain, managing director of the company confirmed this development. However, he declined to provide more information related to this funding round. He said:

Having a marquee investor like Jhunjhunwala on board gives us great confidence. It is also a validation of what Nazara has been building. He is coming in with a long-term perspective of five to seven years.

The development comes just days after IIFL Special Opportunities Fund bought a minority stake in the mobile gaming company for around ₹330 crore. This hints that the company is planning for an initial public offering given that he firm usually invests in a company for the IPO.

According to the reports, with the investment of Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, the company’s early investor WestBridge Capital has trimmed its stake holding in the firm to around 30 percent.

This is one of rare move from Rakesh Jhunjhunwala given that it does not invest in private companies. In a statement, he said:

Nazara is a leading company in the mobile games business. Nazara has a consistent track record of delivering profits, cash flows, along with efficient use of capital and high return on investment. I see growth potential in the company.

Reports indicates that the company is planning to get listed on the stock exchanges next year. While Mittersain declined to comment on the IPO, the company’s filings with the Registrar of Companies indicated that the IPO process may be underway.

The company has already mandated ICICI Securities and Edelweiss Financial Services for the IPO. Nazara Technologies is reportedly planning to complete the listing process by the end of March 2018 and is expecting a valuation of 30-35 times the projected profit after tax of ₹100 crore for 2018-19.

By Jeet