Indian online pharmacy PharmEasy is now valued at about $456 million after investor Janus Henderson said in a filing that he valued his 12.9 million shares in the company at $766,043.
Asset manager Global Research Fund originally spent $9.4 million to acquire these shares. This valuation is 92% lower than PharmEasy's all-time high of $5.6 billion.
It's no wonder that valuation remains low, even though PharmEasy secured more than $200 million in new capital earlier this year and is preparing to file for an initial public offering (IPO) next year.
PharmEasy had started a capital increase in 2023 amid a cash shortage and debt repayment obligations. (A rights issue allows a company to raise capital by having shareholders buy shares at a discount. Depending on the terms, shareholders may also be wiped out of their previous ownership structure if they do not participate in the rights issue.) )
FarmEasy has raised $417 million through a rights issue, according to co-founder Darmil Sheth. Regulatory filings in April 2024 show the startup has secured about $216 million.
The startup is backed by Prosus, Temasek, TPG and B Capital and operates one of India's largest online pharmacies. Janus Henderson's stock valuation suggests FarmEasy is currently worth far less than the $600 million it paid to acquire diagnostic testing chain Tyrocare in 2021. FarmEasy has raised more than $1 billion to date.
The startup's financial challenges surfaced after it postponed its $843 million IPO, scheduled for November 2021. The company then turned to debt financing, including a $300 million loan from Goldman Sachs, but that proved problematic as the company struggled to repay those loans and raise new equity. A deteriorating market.