Bengaluru: Venture capital firm Lightspeed Venture Partners has exited its entire 1.6% stake in PhysicsWallah, selling shares worth nearly Rs 550 crore on Wednesday, less than two years after backing the edtech company.NSE data showed that Lightspeed Opportunity Fund II sold 4.6 crore shares at a weighted average price of Rs 117.7 apiece.
The number of shares sold matched the fund’s holding at the end of the June quarter.ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund was the biggest buyer, purchasing 2.2 crore shares, or about 0.8% of PhysicsWallah, for Rs 258 crore.
The remaining shares were picked up by several institutional investors, including funds linked to Goldman Sachs, Tata AIA Life Insurance, Morgan Stanley Asia, Citigroup, Ghisallo and Societe Generale.The transaction generated gross proceeds of Rs 549.7 crore for Lightspeed.
PhysicsWallah’s IPO documents put the fund’s adjusted acquisition cost at Rs 89.8 per share, after accounting for the conversion of its preference shares and a subsequent bonus issue.This translates into an investment cost of about Rs 419.6 crore and a gross gain of roughly Rs 130 crore, or 31%, before transaction costs and taxes.Lightspeed invested in PhysicsWallah in October 2024 as part of a $210-million funding round led by Hornbill Capital.
