PE investors looking to exit shaadi.com, Mauj

Private equity investors in matrimonial portal shaadi.com and mobile games distribution company Mauj Mobile are looking to capitalise on the soaring interest in Indian e-commerce to make an exit.

Westbridge Capital, Silicon Valley Bank, Sequoia and Intel Capital are looking for an exit over the next six months to cash in on the rising valuations of e-commerce sites.

The portals are owned by Mumbai-based People Group, which also has property portal Makaan.com.

The ₹350-crore People Group's Founder and CEO Anupam Mittal told BusinessLine that the investors’ exit will pave way for a bigger round that the company is looking to raise. The existing investors should make returns that would be seven times the investment made.

“We are in talks with three-four foreign private equity players and will raise a substantial amount in the next few months,” Mittal said.

Mittal — the man behind some successful ventures such as Ola Cabs, Pretty Secrets, Dhruva and Sapience — has ruled out the possibility of his companies going public in the near future. “In the last seven years, the private equity fund flows have been very strong and steady. We expect more international funds to come into the Indian market in the next few months,” Mittal said.

Westbridge Capital and Silicon Valley Bank are investors in shaadi.com and hold together 30 per cent in the portal. Mobile content and applications company Mauj has investors such as Sequoia and Intel Capital. They too hold 30 per cent together in Mauj Mobile. All four together have invested $25 million (₹150 crore) in both the companies.

According to Mittal, the online matrimony market is growing fast with 20 million people getting married every year in India, where the market is pegged at ₹500 crore and growing at around 30 per cent annually with players such as Bharatmatrimony and SimplyMarry.com.

shaadi.com, set up in 2001, is at the same time growing at 50 per cent annually. Most of the growth is coming from the metros and tier-II cities. Growing mobile usage is also helping the faster growth. About 50 per cent of the transactions come from its mobile app. shaadi.com’s revenue comes from advertisements and subscriptions.

Mittal also added that the US and the UK markets, where the business has a sizeable presence, are gaining traction. The company is also looking at expanding its operations in the South-East Asian market soon.

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