Payment card services major Mastercard Inc. seeks to sell up to 49.7 million shares in Indian fintech firm Pine Labs Ltd on Tuesday through a block deal valued at up to ₹893 crore ($93 million), according to a term sheet reviewed by Mint. Mastercard Asia/Pacific Pte Ltd is offering shares at a floor price of ₹179.50 per share, which represents a 7.3% discount to Pine Labs' closing price of ₹193.70 on the National Stock Exchange on 21 September.
The total volume offered represents approximately 4.3% of the company's total outstanding equity shareholding. The proposed transaction would therefore mark the New York-based entity's exit from the company. Citigroup Global Markets India Pvt. is acting as the sole placement agent for the transaction.
Mastercard first invested in Pine Labs in 2020, putting around $100-150 million into the company and propelling it to unicorn status. The global giant then offloaded part of its 5.22% holding through the Pine Labs initial public offering in November 2025 by participating in the offer for sale.
Mastercard's exit comes four months after its lock-in period ended in May 2026. The six-month lock-in period for pre-IPO investors who had invested in the company before its public listing in December 2025 ended on 13 May, making up to 924 million equity shares, or nearly 80% of the company's outstanding equity, eligible for trading after the expiry of the lock-in period, according to Nuvama Alternative and Quantitative Research.
Hot market The Pine Labs stake sale is the latest in a flurry of block deals in new-age companies. On 2 September, Mayasoshi Son's SoftBank Group Corp. offered to sell a stake worth ₹1,435 crore in Meesho Ltd, which followed Y Combinator-linked entities selling 48.5 million shares of the same scrip worth ₹970 crore through block deals on 24 August and American major Fidelity Investments Co.
offloading a 1.3% stake worth ₹988 crore in the stock on 11 June. The Japanese investment major has also sold large blocks in Lenskart Solutions Ltd earlier this year. Its arm sold Lenskart shares worth ₹2,888 crore in August and ₹2,873 crore in June.
On 27 August, Ribbit Capital offered up to ₹1,914 crore worth of shares in Groww parent Billionbrains Garage Ventures Ltd. Y Combinator-linked entities also offloaded Groww shares worth over ₹1,400 crore that month. Other deals in August included a ₹600 crore block deal by Trudy Holdings, AVP I Fund and Accel in Amagi Media Labs Ltd, representing around 5% of the company's equity, and a nearly ₹200 crore sale by Qualcomm Ventures in Shadowfax Technologies Ltd.
In the week ended 28 August, Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma's Resilient Asset Management B. V. also sold a 3% block worth over $300 million in One 97 Communications Ltd, with the economic value of the transaction going to Antfin. Elevation Capital, too, offloaded a partial stake in Paytm on 4 August, cashing in more than $200 million.
Sovereign wealth funds have also been active sellers. Temasek sold a 2% stake in Lenskart for ₹1,940 crore in July after Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund sold a 2.3% stake for a similar amount following SoftBank's sale in June.