Venture capital firm Moore Strategic Ventures exited its entire 4.25 crore shares in Zomato at Rs 44 per share amid massive selling pressure on Zomato shares, according to block trade data.

The cumulative size of the deals executed by Moore was around Rs 187 crore, while it bought a stake for Rs 191 crore ahead of Zomato’s IPO.

Therefore, Moore’s investment loss is about Rs 4 crore.

The New York-based venture capital firm acquired 6,347 mandatory convertible Series G shares from Nexus Ventures in January 2021 for about Rs 191 crore, according to company filings. When Zomato’s IPO last July, the special class of shares converted into 4.25 crore shares of the food delivery company.

Experts expect more pre-IPO investors to dump their stakes in Zomato, even if Zomato’s market value has fallen below its last private market valuation of $5.5 billion.

Zomato, which owns about 613 crore shares, or 78% of Zomato’s stake, ended Saturday with a one-year lock-in that analysts warned could face selling pressure this week.

“In the absence of a promoter, all shareholders including the founder collectively own 77.87% of the locked shares and are free to sell their shares on July 23 without any disclosure.

Shares of Zomato fell 12% to close at Rs 41 per share on July 26, a testament to Aswath Damodaran, who last year said the stock was worth no more than Rs 41.

Damodaran, a finance professor at New York University who is often called a valuation guru, has said Zomato’s IPO price of Rs 76 is “too expensive.”

Meanwhile, brokerage firm Jefferies made a contrarian bullish call on the stock. It has a “buy” rating on the stock with a price target of Rs 100. The stock opened at Rs 46.60 on July 26.

The subdued sentiment provides a buying opportunity, analysts at Jefferies said, who expect improved profitability in the segment, a friendlier industry structure and a focus on preserving cash.

On July 23 last year, Zomato made a big entry on the exchange. While its shares were offered at Rs 76 in the IPO, they are listed on the BSE at Rs 115, a premium of more than 51%. Zomato then crossed the Rs 1 trillion market cap mark, with the stock hitting an all-time high of Rs 169 on the BSE.