India's GoMechanic acquired by consortium led by car parts maker Lifelong (updated)
29/03/2023 09:17
(Adds background)
March 29 (Reuters) - India's GoMechanic was acquired by
a consortium led by car parts manufacturer Lifelong Group on
Wednesday, ending months of uncertainty after the beleaguered
car servicing startup announced job cuts and an independent
review into its finances.
Financial details of the deal was not disclosed.
GoMechanic and its investor Stride Ventures, which helped the
process, did not immediately respond to Reuters' request further
details.
LifeLong could not be immediately reached for a comment.
Major investors of GoMechanic - Tiger Global, Sequoia
Capital and Chiratae Ventures - ordered a probe into GoMechanic
in January after its co-founder Amit Bhasin admitted to errors
in the company's financial reporting.
The acquisition is the result of a "widely publicised" sales
process in which the consortium emerged as the winning bidder,
Lifelong said in a statement.
"This transaction will assist in preserving the ecosystem at
large and also enable providing continued livelihood to the
employees at GoMechanic," Lifelong Group said in a statement.
Founded in 2016, GoMechanic serviced and repaired more than
two million cars in the country through its service centers, and
says its services cost 40% less than the offerings of
automakers.
Last year, Reuters reported that SoftBank was in talks to
invest $35 million in the company at a valuation of around
$600-700 million.
The deal with GoMechanic will help LifeLong Group - a
38-year old auto components maker - expand its operations in the
automotive service and repair industry.
It makes commodity parts and assemblies and counts
companies including Hero Moto Corp, General Motors GM.N , Arvin
Meritor, Magna International Inc MG.TO , BorgWarner Inc BWA.N
among its clients.
(Reporting by Aishwarya Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Dhanya
Ann Thoppil)
((Aishwarya.Nair@thomsonreuters.com; +91-9167838937 Twitter: https://twitter.com/Aishwaryartrs
;))