Udaan to Acquire Swiggy's LYNK Logistics for ₹500 Crore, Handing Swiggy a 3.2% Stake Ahead of IPO

Bengaluru-based business-to-business e-commerce platform udaan has agreed to acquire LYNK Logistics, the wholly owned retail distribution arm of food delivery major Swiggy, in a deal valued at Rs 500 crore. The transaction, announced on September 7, will be settled almost entirely in shares rather than cash, and it turns Swiggy into a shareholder in one of India's largest eB2B companies, with a stake of about 3.2 per cent once the deal closes.

How the deal is structured

Rather than paying cash, udaan will settle the acquisition through the issuance of preference equity shares to Swiggy in Trustroot Internet Private Limited (TIPL), the parent entity of udaan. That share swap hands Swiggy a stake of roughly 2.8 per cent in udaan. On top of the swap, Swiggy has committed to invest Rs 75 crore in fresh primary equity in TIPL, which buys it a further stake of about 0.4 per cent and takes its combined holding to approximately 3.2 per cent.

According to the Free Press Journal, the consideration involves 166,534 Series R Compulsorily Convertible Preference Shares priced at 314.40 US dollars apiece, the agreement was signed on September 7, 2026, and the transaction is expected to be completed by October 22, 2026, subject to regulatory approvals.

What udaan is buying

LYNK Logistics is a technology-driven retail distribution platform that Swiggy itself acquired in 2023 through a share-swap transaction, as ANI reported. The company works with some of India's biggest fast-moving consumer goods brands — Hindustan Unilever, Marico, Britannia and ITC among them — and, according to Business Standard, gives those brands direct access to more than 100,000 mom-and-pop stores, or kiranas, across eight Indian cities. The same report noted that LYNK generated revenue of Rs 668 crore in FY26, equivalent to about 2.9 per cent of Swiggy's consolidated revenue.

The geographic fit is central to udaan's logic for the deal. Four southern and eastern metros — Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai and Kolkata — collectively account for approximately 75 per cent of LYNK's revenue, giving udaan greater depth in markets that sit squarely within its cluster-led operating model. udaan co-founder and chief executive Vaibhav Gupta said the acquisition strengthens the company's business and "expands our presence across some of India's most important consumption markets", calling the deal "a strong endorsement of the huge eB2B opportunity" and of the progress udaan has made.

For Swiggy, the sale converts a wholly owned subsidiary into a minority position in a market leader while freeing it from running a capital-hungry distribution business itself. Swiggy chief financial officer Rahul Bothra said the company remains a firm believer in the large B2B opportunity in India, adding that "bringing LYNK together with udaan, the market leader, combines complementary capabilities".

A step on the road to udaan's IPO

The acquisition lands at a significant moment for udaan, which Business Standard reports is readying itself for an initial public offering. In its announcement, the company laid out a set of performance metrics designed to show a business moving steadily towards profitability:

• Revenue has grown at a compound annual rate of roughly 25 per cent between the fourth quarter of calendar 2023 and the first quarter of calendar 2026, according to the company.
• Contribution margin has improved by nearly 500 basis points over the same period, while EBITDA burn has declined by about 70 per cent.
• Private-label products now contribute 15 to 25 per cent of staples sales across the cities where udaan operates.
• Bengaluru, udaan's home market, has achieved EBITDA profitability, the company said.

The company has also been shoring up its balance sheet ahead of any listing. According to its statement, udaan recently completed a recapitalisation of 160 million US dollars through a mix of equity, debt and conversions, and separately raised around 45 million US dollars in private credit financing. Kotak Investment Banking acted as advisor on the LYNK transaction.

Why it matters

India's eB2B market — platforms that digitise the supply chain between brands, wholesalers and the country's millions of small neighbourhood retailers — has consolidated sharply since the funding boom of 2021, and this deal continues that pattern: a well-capitalised category leader absorbing a subscale rival whose parent would rather hold equity than operate the business. For the FMCG brands that use LYNK, the promise is a single, larger pipe into kirana stores across udaan's network; for kiranas, potentially better assortment and pricing from a distributor with greater scale.

The transaction also gives Swiggy a listed-company-style discipline to its portfolio choices. LYNK contributed under 3 per cent of Swiggy's consolidated revenue in FY26, and swapping full ownership of a small, competitive business for a 3.2 per cent stake in the category leader — plus a Rs 75 crore top-up investment — signals where Swiggy believes the value in Indian B2B distribution will ultimately accrue. Whether that bet pays off will become considerably easier to judge if udaan follows through on its reported march towards the public markets.

Sources: Free Press Journal, ANI via Newskarnataka, Business News This Week, Business Standard, Deccan Herald.