(Bloomberg) — Instacart Inc. investor Capital Group Cos. cut its valuation to $14.7 billion, far below the online grocery-delivery firm’s own calculation of $24 billion.
Capital Group marked Instacart shares at $45.84 apiece at the end of June, the asset manager said in a report on the website of its New Economy Fund. That makes it the second major investor in recent weeks to say that Instacart’s own estimate is now obsolete.
In late June, Fidelity Investments lowered its estimate for the closely held firm, which filed confidentially in May for an initial public offering. Representatives for Instacart, Fidelity and Capital Group declined to comment.
The market for pandemic darlings like Instacart has soured amid slowing growth, surging inflation and higher interest rates. The firm, which was valued at $39 billion through a March 2021 funding round, slashed its internal calculation by about 40% a year later.
Read more: Instacart Slashes Its Valuation by Almost 40% to $24 Billion
That markdown positioned San Francisco-based Instacart to issue shares to future and existing employees at the reduced price, providing a potential boost to recruiting and retention efforts. In April, Instacart listed the issuance of 16.6 million employee shares or options at $75 each with a total value of almost $1.25 billion, according to a filing with California regulators.
Fidelity, Capital Group and T. Rowe Price Group Inc. are among mutual fund providers that bought Instacart shares through the company’s private offerings in recent years, along with investment firms such as Tiger Global Management and D1 Capital Partners.
Fidelity has repeatedly marked down Instacart since the year began. Most recently, the Fidelity Blue Chip Growth fund valued its Instacart shares at $48.43 apiece as of May 31, down from $64.85 a month earlier. Boston-based Fidelity also cut its valuation of Instacart rival GoPuff by 50% from March to May, documents show.
Capital Group’s latest valuation for Instacart is down 62% from its last peg of $119.96 a share at the end of March. T. Rowe has yet to provide an update of its March 31 valuation of $96 a share.
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