Mastercard has exited Indian fintech company Pine Labs by selling its entire 4.31% stake through block deals on September 22. The US-based payments company sold 4.97 crore shares at Rs 187.75 apiece, taking the total transaction value to Rs 933.57 crore. The stake was held through Mastercard Asia/Pacific.
The transaction followed Mastercard’s earlier plan to sell up to 49.7 million Pine Labs shares at a floor price of Rs 179.50 apiece. That price represented a 7.3% discount to Pine Labs’ September 21 closing price of Rs 193.70. Citigroup Global Markets India was appointed as the sole placement agent for the proposed sale.
Mastercard first invested in Pine Labs in 2020, putting around $100-150 million into the fintech company. It later sold part of its 5.22% holding through Pine Labs’ offer for sale during the company’s IPO in November 2025, before selling its remaining stake in the block transaction.
A group of 13 domestic and global institutional investors acquired the shares sold by Mastercard. ICICI Prudential Life Insurance was the largest disclosed buyer, purchasing 93.1 lakh shares, equivalent to about 0.8% of Pine Labs’ paid-up equity, for Rs 174.79 crore.
Societe Generale acquired 87.7 lakh shares, or around 0.76%, for Rs 164.65 crore, while Citigroup Global Markets Singapore bought 66.7 lakh shares, representing about 0.57%, for Rs 125.22 crore. Other buyers included Goldman Sachs Bank Europe, BNP Paribas Arbitrage, Morgan Stanley Asia Singapore, Kotak Mahindra AMC, Franklin Templeton MF and Edelweiss MF.
The transaction comes after the lock-in period for Pine Labs’ pre-IPO investors expired in May 2026. According to Nuvama Alternative and Quantitative Research, the expiry made up to 924 million shares, or nearly 80% of Pine Labs’ outstanding equity, eligible for trading.
Pine Labs has also reported stronger financial performance in the April-June quarter. Its consolidated profit rose more than fourfold year-on-year to Rs 19.6 crore, while revenue from operations increased 19.6%. Revenue from its digital infrastructure and transaction platform rose nearly 15% to Rs 499 crore during the quarter.
FAQs
- Why did Mastercard sell its stake in Pine Labs?
Mastercard sold its remaining 4.31% stake in Pine Labs through a block deal worth Rs 933.57 crore.
- How much stake did Mastercard sell in Pine Labs?
Mastercard sold its entire 4.31% stake, comprising around 4.97 crore Pine Labs shares.
- Who bought Mastercard’s stake in Pine Labs?
The shares were acquired by 13 institutional investors, including ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, Societe Generale and Citigroup.
- What was the Pine Labs block deal value?
The block deal was valued at approximately Rs 933.57 crore, with the shares sold at Rs 187.75 apiece.
- When did Mastercard invest in Pine Labs?
Mastercard first invested in Pine Labs in 2020, investing around $100-150 million in the fintech company.
