New Delhi, June 1 -- American alternative investment firm Altimeter Capital, which invests in high-growth technology companies via its public market as well as venture and growth equity vehicles, has logged out of an Indian fintech company that it backed eight years ago with weak returns.
The Menlo Park-headquartered firm, which has made selective investments in India including in foodtech company Swiggy, Nasdaq-listed software-as-a-service company Freshworks and health-tech platform Practo, has sold almost its entire stake in Noida-based digital payments company Pine Labs Ltd.
The firm sold 15.6 million shares of Pine Labs in an open market transaction at a price of Rs 135.21 apiece, according to exchange data. It pocketed Rs 211 crore in the process, in what is likely a full exit on its investment. The firm held 15.9 million shares, reflecting a 1.32% stake in Pine Labs at the end of last quarter. Assuming a full exit, it would have mopped up about Rs 215 crore.
Altimeter is the second investor to sell its stake in Pine Labs within a week. Private equity firm Madison India Capital, which has been on the road to raise a new fund for the past couple of years, also sold almost its entire 2.2% stake in the company last month with its returns falling a tad short of the benchmark.
Altimeter invested in the fintech company in 2018, as part of a secondary round. London-based private equity firm Actis led the $82 million round. The US-based investor put in nearly Rs 114.4 crore, show VCCircle estimates based on its blended cost of acquisition. This would be equal to around $17.6 million, according to the forex rates prevailing at the time.
Altimeter participated in the offer-for-sale during Pine Lab's initial public offering in November last year. The $440-million IPO was oversubscribed on the final day of the offer. Prior to the IPO, Altimeter held a 1.68% stake in the company. It sold about 3.2 million shares in the issue, encashing Rs 47 crore.
Overall, the firm likely harvested about Rs 262 crore from Pine Labs. This translates into a multiple on invested capital of 2.3x and an internal rate of return (IRR) of 10.5-11% in rupee terms, VCCircle estimates show. This is below the 20-30% benchmark that private equity and venture capital investors chase in rupee terms in India.
Altimeter's IRR in dollar terms-which is more relevant for the US-based firm-would be even lower, at around 5-6%, VCCircle estimates show. This is because the rupee has lost nearly a third of its value against the greenback since early 2018.
Pine Labs, which commands a market value of Rs 16,609 crore ($1.75 billion), counts several other alternative investors, including Peak XV Partners, Actis, Alpha Wave Global, Temasek and Sofina, on its cap table.
The company filed its preliminary prospectus with the capital markets regulator in June 2025, after it shifted its domicile back to India from Singapore in preparation for a domestic listing. It went public in November 2025 at a valuation of around Rs 25,737 crore ($2.9 billion then), a discount of 40% from its peak valuation of $5 billion.
The digital payments company operates in India and a number of international markets, including Malaysia, the Philippines, the UAE, Singapore, Australia, the US, and Africa. It recently agreed to acquire Tiger Global-backed Shopflo Technologies, a direct-to-consumer checkout platform, in an all-cash deal valued at Rs 88 crore.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from VC Circle.