SoftBank fully exits Policybazaar parent, fetching $650 million in returns

Japanese technology investor SoftBank has completed its exit from PB Fintech, the parent of insurance marketplace Policybazaar, said people aware of the matter, marking another step in the ongoing divestment of its portfolio of listed companies.

SoftBank, which had invested close to $200 million in PB Fintech, sold its remaining stake in the company in a mid-December transaction for about Rs 914 crore ($109 million at current exchange rate).

In total, SoftBank has garnered about $650 million in returns on its investment in the Gurugram-based insurance aggregator, making profits of about $450 million.


The exit from PB Fintech tracks Masayoshi Son-led SoftBank’s strategy over the past about 12 months wherein the conglomerate has been steadily diluting its holding in listed Indian startups through public market deals.

In December, SoftBank also exited Zomato. It landed a 3.35% stake in Zomato when portfolio firm Blinkit (earlier Grofers) merged with the food delivery company in 2022 in an all-stock deal.

ET reported on January 2 that SoftBank sold stakes worth $1.8-1.9 billion during public offerings and through post-listing sales in four Indian startups — Paytm, Zomato, PB Fintech and Delhivery — that went public in 2021 and 2022. It had invested a total of $2.3-2.4 billion in these four new-age companies.

Meanwhile, SoftBank portfolio firms such as FirstCry, Ola Electric and Swiggy are expected to hit the public markets this year. FirstCry and Ola Electric have already filed draft IPO papers in December.

SoftBank, through Svf Python II (Cayman) Ltd, owned 4.39% of PB Fintech as of September-end, according to the company’s shareholding pattern. It also sold a 2.5% stake in the owner of Policybazaar for Rs 871 crore last October.

Mutual funds including Franklin India and Mirae Asset held a combined 7.83% stake in PB Fintech with Tencent and Steadview Capital being the other major investors.

Founders Alok Bansal and Yashish Dahiya held stakes of 1.67% and 4.64% each in PB Fintech as of September-end.

Shares of PB Fintech closed marginally lower at Rs 879.15 apiece on Wednesday on the BSE. The stock has nearly doubled since January last year.

SoftBank–among the most influential technology investors– has funded almost a fifth of India’s over 100 unicorns, or startups with valuations exceeding $1 billion. It has so far invested $15 billion in the country. Of this, $11 billion had been invested by the SoftBank Vision Fund. The group invested the remaining $4 billion in sectors such as renewable energy and infrastructure.