After been accused of fraud, abrasive behaviour and corporate governance issues BharatPe cofounder Ashneer Grover has been demanding Rs 4,000 crore from investors to buy out his stake if they want him to leave the company.
Even though the Grover denies all accusations he will only leave the company only if an investor buys out his 9.5% stake in the company at a valuation of $6 billion, according to Money control.
“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,” Grover 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,” he added.
Before BharatPe was last valued at $3 billion but last year its value raised to $370 million from Tiger Global, Coatue and others. “From May 2021, when the round was priced, my merchant business today is 50% higher. I have got a bank licence, 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 licence. If I was running the business, I am extremely confident of doing a $6 billion valuation round,” Grover said.