Info Edge lost Rs 532 cr from its investment in Rahul Yadav's 4B Networks: Report

New Delhi, Nov 8 (IANS) Tech and Internet company Info Edge lost around Rs 532 crore after writing off its investment in Rahul Bhoopsingh Yadav’s Broker Network (4B Networks Private Limited), according to reports.

While Info Edge’s cash infusion in Broker Network was Rs 288 crore, the rest is the notional loss from a higher valuation that the startup had reached. 

The proptech startup had a valuation of Rs 719 crore before Info Edge had to write down its entire investment, reports Moneycontrol.

The company impaired the amount considering current state of affairs and other relevant factors, including excessive cash burn, prevailing liquidity issues and significant uncertainty towards funding options, reports Entrackr.

Info Edge has a 59 percent stake in 4B Networks.

Following a complaint by Info Edge, the proprietors of Naukri.com, the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) is now probing the case pertaining to allegedly transferring a part of the investors’ monies to another company where Rahul’s wife Karishma Yadav is the co-owner and a CEO.

Info Edge had invested a total of Rs 276-crore in Yadav’s company 4B Networks Pvt Ltd., and given him a Rs 12-crore loan, totalling to Rs 288-crore, and has claimed that the money was allegedly siphoned off through illegal means.

The complaint accused Yadav of misappropriating the funds in different forms like shady transactions, loans to some former staffers, heavy deposit for an office allegedly routed via his wife’s company, and vendors purportedly transferring payments from 4B Networks to other companies of the family.

Earlier in August, the EOW had booked Yadav and his associate Sanjay Saini following a complaint lodged by Co-Founder of Interspace Communications Pvt Ltd, Vikas Omprakash Nowal, for allegedly cheating him of a total of Rs 10-crore.

Later, the EOW had raided the offices and homes of Yadav-Saini duo, a Look Out Circular was issued against Yadav, while a Mumbai Court rejected his anticipatory bail plea in end-August.

Meanwhile, Info Edge’s revenue from operations grew 47.6 per cent to Rs 2,345 crore during the fiscal year ending March 2023 in contrast to Rs 1,589 crore in FY22, according to the company’s consolidated annual financial statements.