ASHNEER GROVER embroiled in Financial Fraud?
BharatPe is an Indian fintech company that caters to small merchants and Kirana store owners in India. The company offers a range of fintech products including interoperable QR codes for UPI payments, Bharat Swipe for card acceptance, and small business financing. Its investors include Tiger Global, Dragoneer Investment Group, Steadfast Capital, Coatue Management, Ribbit Capital among others. Ashneer Grover is the Founder & Managing Director of Bharat Pe, he is currently judging Shark Tank India (An Indian adaptation of an American television reality show). Ashneer Grover went on a voluntary leave till March-end.
The Board of Directors at Bharat Pe are supposedly working towards ousting its co-founder and MD Ashneer Grover, who, along with his spouse, is under the scanner for alleged financial fraud. Although the suspicions are yet to be proven, such a decision by the board will cement the idea in the minds of his followers and many other people as well. The Financial investigation is being handled by the Big 4 audit firm PwC.
The move by the Board will likely leverage provisions in the company’s Articles of Association (AoA) to buy back certain restricted shares held by Grover at a lower fair market value, sources told The Indian Express. To activate the buyback clause, in addition to approval from the Board, consent of 51% of the investors is also needed.
Grover currently owns 9.5% stake in BharatPe, while his co-founder Shashwat Nakrani owns 7.8%. VC investor Sequoia Capital India is the largest shareholder in BharatPe with 19.6%, followed by Coatue at 12.4% and Ribbit Capital at 11%. In addition to these three, Tiger Global, Steadview Capital and Beenext have also backed BharatPe, and together these marquee investors hold 60.4% stake, as of August last year.