Ashneer Grover resigns as BharatPe MD, loses Singapore arbitration

Grover had sought the investors to give Rs 4,000 crore for selling his 8.5 per cent stake and quitting the company, however, top investors are not budging an inch.

Image Courtesy: Twitter/@Ashneer_Grover

New Delhi: Ashneer Grover on Tuesday (March 1) resigned as managing director of fintech BharatPe. Grover, has also lost the arbitration in Singapore he filed against the fintech platform for launching a probe against him.

In a letter sent to the Board, he said that he is being forced to bid adieu to a company of which "I am a founder".

"Your views of businesses and problems on the ground are so coloured by the windows of the Ivory Tower in which you all reside that you have no connect whatsoever with the human element of the business. It is sad that you have even lost touch with the Founder. You've lost touch with me," he wrote in the letter.

BharatPe currently has 8 million merchants on its platform.

Grover had filed an arbitration plea with the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC). In his appeal, Grover pleaded that the investigation was illegal because it violated the shareholder agreement and articles of association.

He had sought the investors to give Rs 4,000 crore for selling his 8.5 per cent stake and quitting the company, however, as per news agency IANS top investors in the fintech platform are not budging an inch. At a $2.85 billion valuation and at the current dollar-rupee exchange rate, his stake would be around Rs 1,824 crore.

The company's key investors are Sequoia Capital that has nearly 19.6 per cent stake, Coatue has 12.4 per cent stake, Ribbit Capital has 11 per cent, and Beenext 9.6 per cent stake, among others.

Meanwhile, the fintech platform has sacked Grover's wife Madhuri Jain Grover over alleged financial irregularities during her tenure as head of controls that runs into crores. Alvarez and Marsal, a leading management consultant and risk advisory firm, is set to submit its report into financial irregularities at the firm during Grovers' time some time next week.