Peyush Bansal buys 2.5% stake in Lenskart at 90% discount ahead of IPO

Peyush Bansal, co-founder and CEO of omnichannel eyewear retailer Lenskart, has acquired a 2.5% stake in the company for Rs 222 crore from a group of institutional investors, including SoftBank, Chiratae Ventures, Kedaara Capital, TR Capital, Temasek, and Premji Invest.

The secondary share purchase, executed earlier this month, values the company at Rs 8,700 crore (approximately $1 billion), according to filings in Lenskart’s draft red herring prospectus (DRHP), submitted to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on Tuesday.

Bansal, who already holds a 10.3% stake in the company, bought 42.7 million shares at Rs 52 apiece in a series of cash transactions. The buyback, funded via a structured payment mechanism, is part of a growing trend among Indian internet companies that have allocated equity to founders at discounted valuations ahead of initial public offerings.

Despite the buyback, Bansal is also selling 20.5 million shares in the company’s upcoming IPO, expected to be among India’s largest this year.

At a targeted valuation of Rs 70,000-75,000 crore (around $8–9 billion), the sale could net him between Rs 700 crore and Rs 750 crore.

The public offering will include both a fresh issue of Rs 2,150 crore and an offer for sale (OFS) component involving multiple existing shareholders. Alongside Bansal, fellow co-founders Neha Bansal, Amit Chaudhary, and Sumeet Kapahi will offload a collective 31.8 million shares. The promoter group holds around 20% in Lenskart, with institutional investors owning the remainder.

Lenskart’s latest DRHP also outlines the proposed use of IPO proceeds: Rs 272.6 crore will be allocated for establishing 620 new company-owned (CoCo) stores by FY29, Rs 591.4 crore will go toward lease and rental payments for existing stores, Rs 213.4 crore will fund technology and cloud infrastructure, and Rs 320 crore is earmarked for branding and promotional activities.

Financially, Lenskart posted a net profit of Rs 297.3 crore in FY25, a sharp turnaround from a loss of Rs 10.2 crore in FY24. Operating revenue rose nearly 23% to Rs 6,652.5 crore from Rs 5,427.7 crore in the previous fiscal year.

Founded in 2010, Lenskart has emerged as one of India’s largest eyewear brands, with a growing international presence across Southeast Asia and the Middle East. Its most recent fundraising in June 2024 valued the company at $5 billion. Subsequently, Fidelity marked up its stake, implying a valuation of $6.1 billion.