CCI clears Ranjan Pai’s investment in PharmEasy

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has cleared Manipal group chief Ranjan Pai's investment in online pharmacy PharmEasy, according to the latest filing by the antitrust regulator. An additional investment from 360 One (formerly IIFL) in PharmEasy has also been cleared.

Pai's investment in PharmEasy is part of the Rs 3,500-crore funding through a rights issue. He has emerged as one of the largest investors in the Mumbai-based firm, with his stake now estimated at more than 12%. ET had reported in October last year that Pai will be getting three board seats in PharmEasy parent API Holdings as part of this investment. Pai will join the board of API Holdings post the CCI clearance.

PharmEasy’s rights issue was initially planned for Rs 2,400 crore, but later bumped up to Rs 3,500 crore. It was priced at a 90% discount to PharmEasy’s peak valuation of $5.6 billion in 2021. The company had to undertake the rights issue to clear debt it had taken from Goldman Sachs.


Pai, over the past one year, has increased his pace of investment through his family office, with significant investments in companies like Byju’s-owned Aakash Institute, omnichannel jewellery maker Bluestone, baby and mother care ecommerce firm FirstCry along with others.

PharmEasy has been reducing its monthly burn and growing in a sustainable manner. Pai is expected to give a strategic direction to the firm following his investment. It has lost market share to rivals like Tata Digital-owned 1mg. Flipkart Health Plus, Apollo and Reliance-owned Netmeds are the other players in the sector.