Prosus NV has more than doubled its stake in Indian home services startup Urban Company Ltd. ahead of the firm’s public listing, making it one of the company’s largest shareholders, Bloomberg reported.
Ashutosh Sharma, head of the Prosus India Ecosystem, said the Amsterdam-based technology investor now owns 7.35% of Urban Company after acquiring an additional 4% in the latest deal. In total, Prosus has invested $139 million in the platform, which provides on-demand services ranging from home repairs and cleaning to massage therapy.
Urban Company is set to list in Mumbai on Wednesday with a valuation of about $1.8 billion. Its pre-IPO share sale was oversubscribed more than 100 times, signaling strong demand for what is shaping up to be one of India’s most closely watched offerings this year.
“The demand for Urban Company has been so high,” Sharma said. “We wanted more allocation and could not get a lot more.”
This marks the third Indian IPO Prosus has backed in the past year. The firm has poured about $8.6 billion into the country to date, holding stakes in several companies preparing to go public, including social commerce platform Meesho.
For Prosus, India represents a major growth opportunity as the country’s consumer-focused businesses expand rapidly. Urban Company, which operates across 51 cities in three countries, recently turned profitable, Sharma said.
The move echoes Prosus’s historic investment in Tencent Holdings Ltd. through its parent company Naspers Ltd., which paid $34 million for a 50% stake in 2001. Today, Prosus owns 24% of Tencent, which carries a market capitalization of roughly $759 billion. Beyond India and China, Prosus continues to place large bets on e-commerce and food delivery, including its recent acquisition of JustEat Takeaway.com in Europe.
