U.S. private equity investor Warburg Pincus reportedly sold off part of its stake in the troubled Ant Group, adding that its valuation has been cut by over 40 percent since the IPO pull out last year.
Warburg sold part of its stake in early 2020, according to a «Reuters» report citing unnamed sources, in a private trade that valued the firm at $190 billion.
The last time Warburg increased its stake was in 2018 when Ant attracted $14 billion at a valuation of about $150 billion in the world’s largest single fundraising round.
Other notable in that round included Carlyle Group, General Atlantic, Silver Lake Partners, Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC alongside existing shareholders Boyu Capital and Primavera Capital Group.
Valuation Cut
But since its IPO pullout, Ant Group has faced a series of new headwinds including its restructuring from a tech firm to a financial holding company.
This led Warburg to revalue the firm slightly above $200 billion, as of the end of 2020, based on last year’s earnings and comparable analysis, the report said. This marks a 43 percent plunge from the initial $351 billion valuation which was 31 times the net profit forecast for 2021.
Warburg aside, other investors also reportedly expressed caution with one valuing Ant at around the same level as 2018 and another marking its investment in the firm as a cost.
