Lenskart's early backer SoftBank has sold 5.65 Cr shares or 3.25% stake in a block deal worth ₹2,873.3 Cr.

As per NSE data, the firm, via its SoftBank Vision Fund (SVF) II Lightbulb (Cayman) Ltd, sold the shares at ₹508.55 apiece to rake in the amount.

This is 1.5% less than the stock's closing price of ₹516.3 today.

Of the shares that flooded the market, Societe Generale picked up shares worth ₹698.44 Cr via a bulk deal.

Meanwhile, investors like Fidelity, Goldman Sachs, Kotak Mutual Fund and WhiteOak Capital also purchased a significant number of shares via block deals today.

While Goldman Sachs picked up shares worth ₹701.47 Cr, Fidelty bought shares worth ₹198.1 Cr. Interestingly, IMF (International Monetary Fund) also bought about 17 Lakh shares in the eyewear brand.

With this, the investor, which first backed Lenskart in 2019, has offloaded a significant chunk of its holding in the company. At the end of March, the SoftBank holding entity owned 22.79 Cr shares in the company. With the deal, it has officially 25% of its total holding, when compared with the March quarter.

SoftBank first invested in Lenskart in December 2019, when it led the company’s $275 Mn funding round. The Indian omnichannel eyewear retailer attained a unicorn valuation of $1.5 Bn during the round.

The investor offloaded 2.55 Cr via Lenskart's IPO, making it the largest selling shareholder. At the issue price of ₹402, SoftBank raked in ₹1,025 Cr. This translated to a 5.4X return on its investment. Pre-IPO, SoftBank held 25.34 Cr shares or 15.03% stake in the company.

Since listing, Lenskart has surged nearly 28.4% from its issue price of ₹402 and about 18% year to date. The company made its public market debut in November, listing 3% below its issue price.

The block deals come about month after Lenskart's six month IPO lock-in period expiry, during which existing backers sold at least 8.15 Cr shares at ₹473.4 apiece to rake in the amount. While Alpha Wave Ventures sold 3.72 Cr shares, BirdsEye Holdings and TR Capital offloaded at least 1.67 Cr and 80.3 Lakh shares, respectively.