Canadian pension fund Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP) is in advanced stages of finalising a $50-million stake acquisition in Hyderabad-based Software-as-a-Service firm Darwinbox, which will value the company at more than $1 billion, The Economic Times reported on Thursday.
OTPP is acquiring the stake in a mix of primary and secondary transactions, which will see Peak XV Partners partially sell its six-year-old holding in the company that specialises in human resource (HR) services, the report said.
The report comes months after Darwinbox closed a $40-million round that saw private equity firms KKR and Partners Group join the cap table, as Lightspeed and a few early investors partially offloaded their stakes. The March round was largely a secondary transaction with a small primary component, and the blended valuation was around $950 million.
For Peak XV Partners, which first invested in the firm in 2019, this spells a tenfold return on its initial cheque, said another person cited in the report.
Founded in 2015, Darwinbox helps organisations manage their HR needs, including hiring and onboarding, attendance and employee management. It serves more than 1,000 enterprises in various sectors across 130 countries. Its customer base includes companies such as Starbucks, Nivea, Cigna, WeWork, and Crisil.
