VEF, the emerging market fintech investor, today announces the initial public offering (IPO) of its portfolio company BlackBuck (Zinka Logistics Solutions Limited), on the National Stock Exchange of India Limited and BSE Limited in India (ticker BLACKBUCK). VEF has realized gross proceeds of c. USD 2 mln through a sale of shares in the IPO.
As part of the IPO, VEF has partially exited its position in the company, selling 40% of its 0.95% stake in BlackBuck, realizing gross proceeds of c. USD 2 mln. VEF retains 60% of its stake in the newly listed company, which is subject to a six-month lock-up. The transaction has no material effect on the total net asset value of VEF and the BlackBuck position will be c. 0.6% of VEF's total net asset value (as per Q3) following this transaction.
BlackBuck has raised c. USD 65 mln in primary capital and existing shareholders have sold in total c. USD 67 mln of secondary shares in the IPO at INR 273/share.
India's IPO market continues to thrive, with a total of 258 listings between Q1-Q3 2024, accounting for 30% of global IPOs and outpacing the U.S. share of 15%. This reflects strong investor confidence in India's economic trajectory and a clear appetite for scalable, innovative platforms.
Alexis Koumoudos, CIO at VEF, commented: "We are proud to witness BlackBuck's public market debut and the first VEF portfolio company to IPO and exit in India. We congratulate Rajesh and the whole Blackbuck team on this important milestone. Additionally, this partial exit enhances VEF's liquidity, aligning with our strategic objectives and a step in our efforts to strengthen our balance sheet, while retaining 60% of our position in BlackBuck keeps us as part of the company's journey."
About BlackBuck*:
Incorporated in 2015, BlackBuck is a digital platform for truck operators in India, enabling them to digitally manage payments for tolling and fuelling, monitor drivers and fleets using telematics, find loads on its marketplace and get access to financing for the purchase of used vehicles. As of fiscal year 2024, 963,345 truck operators transacted on the Blackbuck platform, comprising 27.52% of India's truck operators. In fiscal year 2024, the platform processed 413.34 mln payment transactions, totalling INR 173.96 bln (c. USD 2.1 bln) in payment volumes and witnessed 2.12 mln load postings on its marketplace. As of June 2024, the company had an established network across 628 districts, constituting 80% of India's districts, with 9,374 digitally-enabled touchpoints for onboarding and servicing activities. For further information about Blackbuck and the IPO, please see the Red Herring Prospectus here.
*Information from BlackBuck's Red Herring Prospectus published ahead of the IPO, available here.
For further information please contact:
Cathal Carroll, Investor Relations: +46 (0) 8-545 015 50
About Us
VEF AB (publ) is an investment company whose Common Shares are listed in Sweden. We invest in growth stage private fintech companies, take minority stakes and are active investors with board representation in our portfolio companies, always looking to back the best entrepreneurs in each market. We focus on scale emerging markets and invest across all areas of financial services inclusive of payments, credit, mobile money and wealth advisors. VEF trades in Sweden on Nasdaq Stockholm's Main Market under the ticker VEFAB. For more information on VEF, please visit http://www.vef.vc.
