Big bull Rakesh Jhunjhunwala’s investment in Nazara Technologies Ltd is pegged at about ₹432 crore as the gaming and sports media platform hits the market with a ₹583-crore Initial Public Offering on Wednesday.
This is based on the upper price band of ₹1,101 a share as Jhunjhunwala holds 32.94 lakh shares or 10.82 per cent in the company. While the entire IPO is an Offer For Sale (OFS) only issue, and there will not be any fresh offering by Nazara Technologies, the ace investor is not diluting any stake.
In 2018, the billionaire had invested about ₹180 crore in the Mumbai-based Nazara Technologies through a secondary transaction, which followed a minority stake acquisition in the company by IIFL Special Opportunities Fund for about ₹330 crore. Nazara Technologies had mopped up about ₹500 crore through secondary transactions between 2017 and 2018.
Rakesh Jhunjhunwala’s investments in Nazara Technologies has more than doubled (about 2.4 times) since his investment in 2018.
Touted as India’s Warren Buffett, Jhunjhunwala manages his portfolio of investments through his firm Rare Enterprises jointly along with his wife Rekha. Jhunjhunwala’s portfolio of investments include Titan, Tata Motors, Escorts, Lupin and Jubilant Life Sciences among others, even as he favors finance, technology, retail and pharmaceutical sectors.
According to the Hurun Rich List, Jhunjhunwala is ranked as 70th richest man in India and 1,409 globally, with a networth of ₹17,800 crore.
Nazara Technologies had fixed a price brand of ₹1,100-1,101 per share for its IPO, which will open for subscription on March 17 and close on March 19.
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The entire issue is an OFS of 53 lakh shares by IIFL Special Opportunities Fund, Mitter Infotech, Good Game Investment Trust, Seedfund 2 International and Azimuth Investments Ltd and other investors.
According to the Red Herring Prospectus, Mitter Infotech holds 19.56 per cent stake, Arpit Khandelwal (11.32 per cent), Nazara founder Nitish Mittersain (3.32 per cent), Manish Agarwal (1.43 per cent) and Seefund2 International a 1.21 per cent stake in the firm. Plutus Wealth Management and various series of IIFL Special Opportunities Fund are among the shareholders of the company.
Nazara Technologies is a diversified gaming and sports media platform with presence in India and across emerging and developed global markets such as Africa and North America.