SoftBank in Talks to Invest in India’s Online Pharmacy
SoftBank could invest $150 million to $200 million in API Holdings, which owns India’s largest online pharmacy chain Pharmeasy.
(Bloomberg) -- SoftBank Group Corp. is in discussions to invest in API Holdings Pvt, which owns India’s largest online pharmacy chain Pharmeasy, according to people familiar with the matter.
API is seeking a valuation of at least $5.6 billion in a new funding round, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified as the information is private. SoftBank could invest $150 million to $200 million into the online pharmacy owner, the people said.
API plans to reach out to other potential investors for the funding round, one of the people said. The company is targeting a listing in the next 12 to 18 months, the person added.
A new round would mean API Holdings is tapping the market shortly after it finished a fundraising exercise. The company completed a series F round that raised $500 million and valued the firm at nearly $4 billion, its co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Siddharth Shah said on Bloomberg TV on Friday.
PharmEasy has so far delivered more than 15 million orders from medicine to diagnostic kits to health care products, serving over 5 million families, according to its website. The company last month bought a majority stake in Thyrocare Technologies Ltd. for 45.5 billion rupees ($610 million).
Deliberations are ongoing and SoftBank could still decide against any investment, the people said. Representatives for API and SoftBank declined to comment.
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