InMobi founders have bought back a significant stake from Japanese investor SoftBank. New Delhi: Mobile advertising firm InMobi’s founders have bought back around 25-30 per cent stake from Japanese investor SoftBank, said people in the know.
An early backer of the startup in 2011, SoftBank is expected to have earned $250 million from the deal, a modest return from its investment of around $200-220 million, the people said. Prior to the transaction, SoftBank held about a 35 per cent stake in InMobi, which has since dropped to 5-7 per cent. Consequently, the investor will lose the promoter tag for InMobi which is planning a public listing.
The sale was finalised at a valuation of under $1 billion, said one of the persons cited above. InMobi and SoftBank did not respond to queries.
InMobi is currently in the process of redomiciling its headquarters to India from Singapore in the run up to its initial public offering.
ET reported on Thursday that InMobi and its founders have raised $350 million in dollar-denominated debt from Varde Partners, Elham Credit Partners, and SeaTown Holdings. According to Tracxn, InMobi has raised a total of $266 million in equity funding since inception. In September 2024, the firm secured $100 million in debt financing from Mars Growth Capital, a joint venture between Tokyo-based Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) and Liquidity Group.
The buyback will boost the combined stake of InMobi founders Naveen Tewari, Mohit Saxena, Abhay Singhal and Piyush Shah to more than 60 per cent, one of the persons said.
The founders have pledged their holdings to raise debt for funding the SoftBank buyback.
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