Despite being accused of fraud, abrasive behavior and corporate governance issues leading to an investigation, BharatPe cofounder Ashneer Grover is demanding Rs 4,000 crore from investors to buy out his stake if they want him to exit the company.
Ashneer Grover Denies All Accusations
On the other hand, Grover denies all accusations saying that he will leave the company only if an investor buys out his 9.5% stake in the company at a valuation of $6 billion, as he said in an interview.
Further adding that “What have I done to resign? This is like execution before trial. I am the MD (managing director).
I run the company. If the board thinks I don’t need to be the MD and someone else should run the company, please put my Rs 4,000 crore on the table and take the key away from me,”.
He said, “If you want to buy me out you want to buy me out at the fair market value, right? In my view the fair market value is $6 billion. Either I’ll run the company or they buy me out, there is no third option,”.
In the last year valuation, BharatPe was valued at $3 billion when the fintech company raised $370 million from Tiger Global, Coatue and others.
Grover added, “From May 2021, when the round was priced, my merchant business today is 50% higher. I have got a bank license, which was not there then. I have built the largest P2P (peer-to-peer) platform, 12% Club, which wasn’t there. I have built PostPe, a BNPL (Buy Now Pay Later) play. We have also merged PMC (Bank) in addition to getting the license. If I was running the business, I am extremely confident of doing a $6 billion valuation round,”.
Board Level Relationships Broken
It seems that the board level relationships have broken down at BharatPe.
The fintech’s investors and CEO Suhail Sameer-led board have appointed Alvarez and Marsal and PwC for a forensic audit.
A few weeks ago, Grover went on a temporary leave of absence saying he will be back before March 31.
This was followed by a scrutiny over a leaked audio clip where Grover allegedly abused a Kotak employee for not being able to invest in Nykaa’s IPO.
Further, the legal notices were exchanged between Grover and Kotak in the same regard.
In another update, Grover’s wife Madhuri has also gone on a leave of absence last week.
Now, BharatPe’s board is looking into issues including invoices being over-inflated and some vendors being fake.