Foodpanda finds no buyer even at $10m price
Foodpanda finds no buyer even at $10m price

Rocket Internet-backed Foodpanda is desperately searching for a buyer for its troubled India operations at a lowly price tag of $10-15 million, multiple sources familiar with the development, reported TNN.

The Samwer brothers-led Rocket Internet's interest in its Indian portfolio has been waning with most of its flagship firms, including FabFurnish and PrintVenue, being put on the block.

"Foodpanda has held talks with its competitors in India, who have been pitched with a sale value of $10-15 million," a source said.

Despite the low valuation, the food ordering platform has not found a buyer yet, signalling that it may decide to shut India operations soon.

"Both Zomato and Swiggy have been approached for a buyout, besides one larger horizontal company. But Rocket is yet to garner keen interest from possible suitors for Foodpanda," another source said.

When contacted, a spokesperson of Rocket Internet told, "We don't comment from Rocket's side to rumours about Foodpanda."

Last year, Foodpanda raised more than $300 million from the Berlin-based Samwer brothers and Goldman Sachs for its global business. That's when it invested heavily in the Indian market, becoming one of the largest players in the online food ordering segment. In order to ward off rivals Zomato and the likes of Swiggy and TinyOwl, Foodpanda acquired TastyKhana and Just Eat in India. But it has since been on a downhill slide.

Reports of an alleged fraud and systematic discrepancies in Foodpanda's operations emerged last year. The company then lay off 300 people as the overall food delivery market hit a rough patch.

Foodpanda India, which is run by Pisces eServices, reported a loss of Rs 36 crore in March 2015 over revenue of close to Rs 5 crore, according to data from the Registrar of Companies (RoC) at the ministry of corporate affairs. .

 
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