Zomato denies reports of an offer to acquire Shiprocket for $2 billion

Earlier, Bloomberg had reported that Zomato had made an offer to acquire Shiprocket

Zomato has denied the reports, which said it has offered to acquire delivery platform Shiprocket for $2 billion. In a regulatory filing, the company termed the news as "incorrect".

In the filing, the company said, "We have noticed that there are certain news articles circulating in the mainstream media with the subject 'Zomato offers to acquire Shiprocket for $2 billion'."

It added, "We deny this statement and would like to caution investors against such incorrect news floating in the market. We remain focused on our existing businesses with no plans for any acquisition at this moment."

In a post on social media platform X, Zomato's Chief Executive Officer Deepinder Goyal also denied the report.

 

"Kindly note that the Company does not comment on media speculation but is clarifying this information out of abundant caution, given the large size of the deal mentioned in the news article and the uncertainty that it may create in the market," he wrote on X.

Clarification on news articles related to acquisition of Shiprocket —

We have noticed that there are certain news articles circulating in the mainstream media with the subject “Zomato offers to acquire Shiprocket for $2 billion”. We deny this statement and would like to caution…

— Deepinder Goyal (@deepigoyal) December 21, 2023

Earlier this week, Bloomberg reported that Zomato had made an offer to acquire Shiprocket. It, however, added that "no concrete decision has been taken".

Zomato is already an investor in Shiprocket. In 2021, it had picked a stake in Shiprocket during its $185-million Series E funding. The round also saw participation from Temasek and Lightrock India.

On Thursday, Zomato's shares closed at Rs 127.55 apiece on BSE.