Uber lost $707 million in Zomato investment this year; food delivery company reacts

After ride-hailing platform Uber sold its 7.8 per cent stake worth over $390 million in Zomato, the Deepinder Goyal-run company said on Wednesday it is not privy to what its shareholders are doing with their shares.

Uber, which suffered around $707 million loss in its Zomato investment in the first half of this year, sold its share in the food delivery aggregator via a block deal on stock exchanges that has been bought by several global and Indian VCs, according to sources close to the development of the matter.

According to them, the block deal move will actually ensure more "long-term" and stable investment from top VC firms in the company.

The Zomato block deal was executed at Rs 50.44 per share equivalent to 612 million or 7.8 per cent of total outstanding shares.

In a statement to IANS, Zomato said: "We are a public company and are not privy to what our shareholders are doing with their shares".

Zomato stock closed at Rs 55.40 on Wednesday, before falling nearly 10 per cent in the early morning trade, and then recovering fast during the day.

Uber was yet to issue an official statement on the development.

Uber on Tuesday revealed that it lost about $245 million in its Zomato investment in the second quarter (Q2) this year.

In the first six months this year, the total loss was around $707 million, said the company during its second quarter (Q2) earnings.

Uber had sold its food delivery business Uber Eats in 2020 in an all-stock transaction to Zomato for a 9.99 per cent stake in the online food delivery platform, and took 7.78 per cent in online food aggregator.

Zomato shares have lost over 60 per cent of its value this year.

The company reported Rs 185.7 crore in consolidated loss for the quarter ending June 30, compared to a loss of Rs 359.7 crore in the previous quarter.

The consolidated revenue saw 67 per cent increase at Rs 1,413.9 crore from Rs 844.4 crore (same quarter last year), and 16.68 per cent up from Rs 1,211.8 crore in the last reported quarter.

According to the company, the losses for Blinkit are coming down every month -- from Rs 2,040 million (about $26 million) in January 2022 to Rs 929 million ($12 million) in July.