Ant Financial to Exit Zomato Parent Eternal with Rs 5,370 Cr Stake Sale

Ant Financial, Alibaba's affiliate, is set to sell its remaining 1.9% stake in Zomato parent Eternal through block deals, generating Rs 5,370 crore at the floor price. This will take Ant Financial's total proceeds from selling its stake to over Rs 18,000 crore, or nearly six times its investment of Rs 3,246 crore. The stake sale comes after Ant Financial fully exited fintech company Paytm.

Ant Financial, Alibaba's affiliate, is set to sell its remaining 1.9% stake in Zomato's parent company, Eternal, through block deals. The transaction is expected to generate Rs 5,370 crore at the floor price of Rs 285 per share, according to sources. This sale follows Ant Financial's recent exit from fintech company Paytm, where it sold its entire 5.84% stake for around Rs 3,800 crore [2].

The stake sale comes days after Ant Financial's exit from One97 Communications, which runs the payments firm Paytm. The Chinese investor will sell 188.4 million shares at a floor price of Rs 285, a discount of almost 5% to the last closing price [3]. Shares of Eternal have gained 8.5% so far this year.

This transaction is significant as it marks Ant Financial's second exit from an Indian company in a week. The Chinese fintech group has gradually reduced its exposure to Paytm since the company's listing in 2021. As of March 2025, Ant Group still held nearly 10% in Paytm, but offloaded a 4% stake worth Rs 2,103 crore in May [2].

Eternal Ltd, which houses Zomato and Blinkit, reported a steep 90% year-on-year drop in Q1FY26 consolidated net profit to Rs 25 crore from Rs 253 crore last year. Revenue, however, surged 70% YoY to Rs 7,167 crore, driven by strong growth in both food delivery and quick commerce [2].

Ant Financial's total proceeds from selling its stake in Eternal and Paytm will exceed Rs 18,000 crore, nearly six times its initial investment of Rs 3,246 crore. The share sale comes as Eternal continues to invest in Blinkit and the "going-out" vertical, which has weighed on margins. However, food delivery margins improved to 5% of Net Order Value (NOV), up from 3.9% a year ago [2].

This sale is considered a clean out trade, as indicated by the June quarter shareholding pattern, which showed that Antfin held a 2% stake in Eternal [2]. The transaction is expected to be completed on Thursday.

References:
[1] https://www.tradingview.com/news/reuters.com,2025:newsml_L4N3TY10C:0-china-s-antfin-likely-to-sell-entire-stake-in-zomato-parent-eternal-cnbc-awaaz-reports/
[2] https://www.businesstoday.in/markets/stocks/story/antfin-to-exit-zomato-parent-eternal-with-rs-5375-cr-block-deal-second-india-exit-this-week-488169-2025-08-06
[3] https://www.business-standard.com/markets/news/antfin-to-sell-entire-stake-in-eternal-formerly-zomato-via-block-deal-125080601672_1.html