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1. Zomato acquires Blinkit for $568 million in instant-grocery delivery push
Zomato has acquired Blinkit, a struggling 10-minute grocery delivery startup, in a $568.1 million all-stock deal as the loss-making food delivery firm looks to broaden its offerings at a time when its shares are trading far below last year’s debut price and less than half of the all-time highs.
The Gurgaon-headquartered firm — which reached an agreement to acquire Blinkit earlier this year, TechCrunch previously reported — said on Friday its shareholders have approved the deal (PDF). The deal marks a significant value erosion in Blinkit, which became a unicorn a year ago and had raised about $700 million mostly against equity. When the two firms agreed for an acquisition earlier this year, they had valued the deal between $700 million and $750 million, TechCrunch earlier reported.
The acquisition comes as a relief to Blinkit, which struggled to raise funds from new and most of its existing investors for several quarters.
Zomato acquires Blinkit for $568 million in instant-grocery delivery push
2. Lenskart acquires majority stake in Japan’s Owndays, becomes Asia’s largest Omnichannel retailer
Omnichannel retailer Lenskart has acquired a majority stake in Japanese eyewear brand Owndays to become the region’s largest Omni-channel eyewear business by taking it to 13 markets in Asia including India, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Japan.
Reportedly, the deal is said to be $400 million. But, the company did not disclose details of the deal.
In a press statement, the company said that Owndays’ Co-founders, CEO Shuji Tanaka, and COO Take Umiyama, will continue to be shareholders and lead the management team while the brand will continue operating independently.
Peyush Bansal, Co-Founder, and Group CEO at Lenskart said, “With OWNDAYS we move a step closer to democratizing eyewear. I have known Shuji-san and Take-san for over five years and have been an admirer of the disruptive brand and customer experience they have built with OWNDAYS. To bring about a revolutionary change such as the one the world needs in eyewear, we need to work with like-minded and complementary founders.
Lenskart acquires majority stake in Japan's Owndays, becomes Asia's largest Omnichannel retailer
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