Venturi betsnd $27 mn for 5% stake in K12 Techno
mus Group provides 5G, data and fibre services in Belgium and several other European markets under brands including Proximus, Scarlet and Mobile Vikings.
On Wednesday, Proximus Group completed the acquisition of a majority stake in Mumbai-based Route Mobile, nearly a year after former agreed to buy a 57.56% share stake in the latter for ₹5,924.4 crore, through its subsidiary Proximus Opal.
The deal is one of the largest in the communications services space in recent years.
Route Mobile founder Rajdip Gupta, along with other members, then reinvested over ₹2,760 crore in Proximus Opal through which he now holds about 13% in the entity. Gupta will continue as the managing director and Group CEO of Route Mobile and will also spearhead the C-PaaS business globally.
The agreement to buy the initial stake triggered a mandatory open offer to purchase up to 26% more of the company's outstanding shares. Proximus Opal bought another 24.99% stake through the open offer for ₹2,593.4 crore.
It now holds 82.7% in Route Mobile and has about 12 months, as per Sebi guidelines, to cut its stake down to 75% to ensure the public holding in the company is at least 25%.
“We have about 12 months to come to 75%. We have the open market, or we can create some blocks of shares,” Boutin said in response to a question on ways to meet the Indian regulations.
Gupta told Mint that Route Mobile will be able to cross-sell products of Telesign, which specialise in digital identity and digital anti-fraud products, in India and other markets of Asia, Africa, West Asia where it operates, while Telesign will take Route’s C-PaaS solutions to the US and European markets where it operates.
The company is also looking at more wins from the India market in the application-toperson SMS service space, where it landed a two-year $100 million deal from Vodafone Idea in August last year.
Singapore-based private equity firm Venturi Partners Pte. Ltd has acquired a 5.12% stake in K12 Techno Services Pvt. Ltd from Navneet Education Ltd for ₹225 crore ($27 million), according to a joint statement from the companies. The firms, however, did not disclose other financial details of the transaction. K12 Techno Services is the operator of the Orchids International school chain.
Since 2013, Navneet Education has invested ₹118 crore in K12. It has now divested some of its stake in the company, but will retain 14-15%, according to two people in the know, seeking anonymity.
K12 also counts Peak XV, Sofina Ventures, and Kedaara Capital as its investors.
According to the people cited above, the deal valued K12 at ₹5,000 crore. In September 2023, the company was valued at ₹3,800 crore, when Kedaara Capital invested ₹1,200 crore to pick up a stake from Peak XV (formerly Sequoia Capital India).
“This is a multi-bagger partial exit for Navneet Education, which has taken money off the table, but continues to hold a sizeable stake,” one of the two people said. “Venturi is likely to increase its stake, going forward.”
In response to Mint's queries, Rishika Chandan, managing director, Venturi, said: “Venturi is committed to supporting the company with further capital requirements as it scales its platform.” Venturi Partners, which specialises in consumer investments across India and Southeast Asia, has backed the likes of Livespace, Country Delight, Believe, Pickup Coffee and DALI. It is currently investing from its $180 million fund.
The acquisition by Proximus is one of the largest deals in the communications services space in recent years