The leaked audio clip, which first surfaced online on Wednesday through anonymous social media handles, contains a conversation in which Grover repeatedly abuses and accuses the Kotak employee of his failure in the so-called police encounter, or extra-judicial killing. I threaten to be killed. In securing the allocation of funding for the Nykaa IPO.
Grover, who initially said through his Twitter and LinkedIn accounts that the clip was fake, later deleted that claim. BharatPe has not denied that the audio is genuine, instead saying it would not comment on the matter and would not like to respond to “baseless social media allegations”. Kotak did not comment on the incident. Employees of Grover and Kotak did not respond to requests for comment mentioned in the clip.
Mint is unable to independently verify the authenticity of the clip. But two persons in close proximity to the developments said that the conversation shown in the circulating clip had taken place. He asked not to be named for fear that business ties might be disrupted. Our reporting has been able to tie together the chain of events and past relationships that led to the flashpoints.
A joint venture between BharatPe and Centrum Financial Services has been licensed by the Reserve Bank of India to a small finance bank and operates Unity Small Finance Bank. It is expected to take over the troubled Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank.
Grover is also currently featured in Shark Tank India, a television show in which startups pitch investments to a panel of investors, called Sharks.
Bharat Pe is one of the largest digital payments company in India and counts among its investors Sequoia Capital, Ribbit Capital, Benext, Coatue, Steadview, Tiger Global and others. The company had in October last year appointed former SBI chairman Rajnish Kumar as the chairman of its board.
“cool, it’s a fake audio”
On January 5, an anonymous Twitter user named ‘Bongo Babu’ posted an audio clip in which Grover abused an employee of Kotak Bank for failing to get the allotment during Nykaa’s initial public offering (IPO). He appears to be threatening to kill.
The audio clip titled “How Rich Founders Treat Poor Bank Employees” was purportedly a conversation involving Grover, his wife Madhuri Jain and an employee of Kotak Wealth Management.
The leaked clip sparked a reaction on social media and raised questions about the prevailing work culture in BharatPe. In response to the response, on Thursday morning, Grover made a statement on Twitter, claiming that the audio clip circulating on social media is fake.
“Friends. Cold! This is a fake audio of some scammer trying to extort money (US$240K in bitcoin). I refuse to budge. I have more character. And the internet has enough scammers,” Grover said on Twitter.
Along with the statement, he also posted screenshots of an email exchange with an anonymous account named Unicon Baba, which appears to be providing marketing services for a fee. But on Friday, Grover removed the post from his social media handles on Twitter and LinkedIn without any explanation.
Centrum to Kotki
According to the two individuals, the Kotak employee, who is on the receiving end of Grover’s threats and abuse, and who can be addressed as Sushrut in the clip by both Grover and his wife, is Sushruta Arora, associate vice president at Kotak Wealth Management. quoted above. The persons said that the Kotak employee in the clip is being referred to as Rohit Mohan, Senior Director, Ultra High Net Worth Individuals Practice at Kotak Mahindra Bank.
Both are former employees of Centrum India – with whom BharatPe is in a joint venture for Unity Small Finance Bank. According to his LinkedIn profile, Mohan joined Kotak in April 2021, while Arora joined in June 2021.
Arora and Mohan did not respond to messages via text and LinkedIn. The chief executive of Kotak Wealth Management did not respond to an email seeking comment.
Apart from the bank, JV, BharatPe and Centrum Group have a longstanding relationship. BharatPe’s investment portfolio is handled by Centrum Wealth Management.
“Mohan was the one who initially introduced Grover to Centrum. So, when he left Centrum to join Kotak last year, Grover gave Kotak the mandate to manage his personal wealth. BharatPe’s money is still managed by Centrum, but Ashneer’s personal assets are now being managed by Kotak,” said the first of the two people cited above.
IPO financing
The controversy that is the subject of the controversial audio clip is a thriving credit facility called IPO financing, in which banks give loans that can be used to bid for shares in an initial public offering. With a hyperactive IPO market and investors chasing profit on listing, also known as POP, it has emerged as one of the most popular offerings from wealth management firms.
In an interview with CNBC TV18 in July last year, Grover said that he had made a personal application of Rs 150 crore in Zomato IPO through Kotak Wealth Management through the NII (Non-Institutional Investor) segment. He was creating a pool of $100 million for Delhivery, Nykaa and Policybazaar IPOs, adding that he is allocating his personal savings to gain IPO financing benefits and for more than $15 million in each of the upcoming IPOs. wish to apply. in the tech space.
The second of the two persons cited above said, “There is an ongoing dispute between Kotak and Grover regarding IPO (initial public offering) financing.” He said it was not the allocation of shares that Grover is talking about in the audio clip but the allocation of IPO financing funds.
A senior industry executive working closely with Kotak Investment Advisors explained how IPO financing works.
“Suppose the IPO is worth Rs 1,000 crore, but there is a possibility of bidding worth Rs 5,000 crore due to extended interest. Hence each investor (small investor) who wishes to receive a maximum of Rs 2 lakh (retail individual investors are not allowed to apply for an allotment of more than Rs 2 lakh) needs to make five such bids. So that even if they get 20 percent allocation, it will become 2 lakhs. Bankers know this and know that the money will be returned. So, they go ahead and finance 9 lacs out of 10 lacs bid as it is completely safe… “
While the Rs 2 lakh limit is not applicable for HNIs applying in the NII segment of the IPO, the principle of bidding for more lots to maximize your chances remains the same.
“The higher you bid, the higher the chances of an IPO allotment. In this case, a larger loan was given that could then be used to bid for Nykaa shares. However, the money was not given at the last minute. Grover is upset that Kotak had promised him the allotment and hence did not check with anyone else…,” he explained.
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