TENCENT ACQUIRES A BIGGER SLICE OF INDIAN SPOTIFY RIVAL GAANA, UPPING ITS STAKE TO MORE THAN A THIRD
Spotify rival Gaana, which announced in August that it had surpassed 185m monthly active users, has just raised 3.75bn INR (approximately $51m) in debt to help finance its growth. The money comes from two existing Gaana investors – Tencent, and the platform’s majority-owner Times Internet – in the form of optionally converted debentures at a price of 63,761.93 INR (around $870) per share. The majority of this cash (approximately $41m) has been handed over by Tencent’s European entity, Tencent Cloud BV, with the remaining amount coming from Times Internet. According to financial filings in India, the move has seen Tencent’s ownership stake in Gaana increase to 34.44%, while diluting Times Internet’s stake to 60.18%. The third stakeholder in Gaana, ESOP Pool, owns 5.38%. Entrackr estimates that, as a result of the new debt raise, Gaana is now worth around $530m – with Times Internet’s stake worth $319m, and Tencent’s stake worth $182.5m. Racism Again on Music Apple Tencent initiall...