Struck by Byju’s, General Atlantic’s India ship is in distress. Will it survive?

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₹309 crore though its revenue also grew by 96% to ₹326 crore. The 2022-23 statements are not available on the Registrar of Companies. None of the two tech investments cited above are expected to be a write off—certainly not at the scale of Byju’s—but General Atlantic did have another stroke of bad luck, in October 2022.

It invested in BillDesk, a payments gateway business, first in 2016. South African investor Prosus NV-backed PayU was in talks to acquire BillDesk for $4.7 billion but the deal was called off. Prosus scrapped the acquisition saying that deal conditions were unmet, though people familiar with the move told Mint at the time that it was because market conditions had changed.

An exit here could have added a $700-800 million payday for General Atlantic. BillDesk, meanwhile, lost the growth momentum as it was readying for the merger. The company is rebuilding its business and is aiming for a public listing over the next couple of years.

Investors put money to work when they think they can make returns in the shortest time possible. A delay in the exit timeline typically reduces the returns percentage from that investment. “It is clear that many of General Atlantic’s tech investments will take a longer time to yield results," said an investment banker tracking the firm, who asked not to be identified.

In the non-tech basket, General Atlantic is struggling with its investment in PNB Housing Finance. Ahead of the housing finance company’s initial public offering (IPO) in 2016, the PE firm acquired shares at around ₹750-775 apiece. Thereafter, it doubled its investment in subsequent years, acquiring shares at a higher price from the open market.