Lending platform Yubi valued at $1.5-billion in secondary sale by investors

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Yubi, which is set to separate from parent Vivriti Capital, has been valued at $1.5 billion following a secondary share sale, two people in the know told ETtech. Chennai-headquartered non-banking finance company Vivriti Capital currently owns just under 50% of Yubi. A secondary sale is one where an existing shareholder liquidates part of his shareholding by selling some shares either in the open market or to promoters.

“In order to keep the operations of the platform and the NBFC separate, the process to restructure the two entities started almost a year back and now is about to get over,” one of the sources said on condition of anonymity as regulatory filings are yet to be done. As per the recast process, Vivriti sold some part of its shareholding in Yubi to existing investors, valuing the company at $1.5 billion. This is at a premium to its last funding round where it raised $137 million at a valuation of around $1.2 billion.

Insight Partners, Dragoneer Investment Group and B Capital Group led that round in 2022. “Yubi has had some conversations with prospective investors for a primary fund infusion, and the valuation ask was north of $2 billion,” said another person in the know. However, the person added that nothing has been finalised yet.

The company is focusing on revenue growth and profitability in the coming years, Chief executive officer Gaurav Kumar did not comment on the secondary tranche when contacted by ET.A platform for both lenders and borrowers Yubi is a composite debt platform where banks and NBFCs can plug in on one side. On the other side are corporations seeking debt, fintechs looking for co-lending partnerships and NBFCs looking to securitise their assets. The company closed FY23 at a total gross