PharmEasy Closes Pre-IPO Investment Round Of Up To $350 Mn; Valuation Jumps To $5.6 Bn API Holdings Ltd, the parent of PharmEasy, has also closed a $130-140 million secondary share sale. Around 20 senior executives have acquired shares worth $5 million as part of the secondary sale
By Prabhjeet Bhatla •
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Online pharmacy PharmEasy has closed a funding round worth nearly $350 million ahead of filing its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) before an Initial Public Offering (IPO), according to reports.
The company has raised around $204 million in primary funding from Singapore's Amansa Capital, Blackstone-backed hedge fund ApaH Capital, US hedge fund Janus Henderson, OrbiMed, Steadview Capital, Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund ADQ, hedge fund Neuberger Berman and London's Sanne Group, the report noted.
PharmEasy parent API Holdings has also closed a $130-$140 million secondary share sale. PharmEasy founders—Siddharth Shah, Dhaval Shah, Dhramil Sheth, Harsh Parekh, and Hardik Dedhia—have received new stock options ahead of the online pharmacy's IPO. Each founder has been given 9,987 stock options under its employee stock ownership plan.
About 20 senior employees have bought shares worth $5 million as part of the secondary sale, indicating bullishness over the IPO. Early investors and angel investors have sold their stakes in the firm, while IIFL's tech fund has also picked up shares.
PharmEasy founders, too, have bought shares worth around $40 million in the secondary sale.
The above-mentioned investors have also picked up secondary shares besides their primary investment.
In a secondary share sale, existing investors sell their shares to new investors and the money does not flow into the company funds.
This is the third major financing round that the company has closed, taking the total to $1 billion including secondary funding in the calendar year so far, amid record amounts of capital being pumped into startups leading the digital economy. Following the pre-IPO round, API Holdings' post-money valuation has jumped to $5.6 billion, the report said quoting sources. PharmEasy was valued at $4 billion after it acquired diagnostics chain Thyrocare for over $600 million in June.
According to the report, Amansa Capital has put almost INR 370 crore in the round, while Sanne Group has invested over INR 443 crore. Steadview Capital has chipped in INR 110 crore.
Janus Henderson-managed funds have invested close to INR 100 crore, while ADQ has put around INR 74 crore, the filings showed. New York-based Neuberger Berman and others have invested the rest of the money, it added.
PharmEasy has also added five new independent directors to its 12-strong board and received board approval to convert itself into a public company from a private entity.
In September, the Mumbai-based company acquired cloud-based hospital supply chain management startup Aknamed in a $180-$190 million deal.
