Serum Institute of India buys into IPO-bound insurance unicorn PolicyBazaar, as True North sells part stake in secondary sale

• Adar Poonawalla’s Serum Institute of India has bought a stake in the initial public offering (IPO) bound Policybazaar.
• The investment firm True North has sold a part of its stake in PolicyBazaar to five different firms.
• Policybazaar is reportedly looking to head for an IPO in 2021.

Adar Poonawalla-headed vaccine maker Serum Institute of India (SII) has bought a minority stake in the initial public offering (IPO) bound Policybazaar.

The investment firm True North (formerly India Value Fund) has sold a part of its stake in PolicyBazaar to five different firms – SII, Ashoka India Equity Investment Trust Plc, Triumph Global Holdings Pte, IIFL Special Opportunities Fund Series 8 and India Acorn Fund.

The financial details of the deal weren’t disclosed.

“True North has been and continues to be a good friend, advisor and has supported us as an investor through the last few years. We are grateful for that, and glad to see them having a good partial exit, we welcome on board the new shareholders. True North continues to be an investor and we thank them for the confidence,” said Yashish Dahiya, chief executive of Policybazaar in a press statement.

India’s online insurance unicorn Policybazaar is reportedly looking to head for an IPO in 2021. Backed by investors like SoftBank’s Vision Fund, Tiger Global Management and Tencent Holdings, Policybazaar was last valued at $3.5 billion.

“We’ve had a great partnership with PolicyBazaar over the last three years. We are extremely pleased with the company’s sustained growth momentum and efficiency in delivering great results in spite of the challenging market conditions. We will continue to support PolicyBazaar as it heads towards public markets in the next 12-15 months and scripts many more success stories,” said Divya Sehgal, partner at True North.

SII’s subsidiary Poonawalla Finance has been ramping up its presence in the Indian fintech sector. In February, it had bought a majority stake in NBFC Magma Fincorp for ₹3,450 crore. Last year, Poonawalla Finance had partnered with the startup Capital Float to disburse ₹500 crore in loans.

Poonawalla Finance, which was founded in April 2019 as a part of the $9.8 billion Cyrus Poonawalla group, has had a good start. It already has over ₹1500 crore in assets under management.

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