11am, 28 May 2025.

The screen blinked to life for the 24th Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) of e-commerce logistics company Ecom Express, conducted virtually. As formalities began, chairman and independent director V Anantharaman didn’t waste time with niceties. He dropped a bomb.

“A deal was struck between the majority of the company’s shareholders and Delhivery [the logistics- and supply-chain major] in April 2025, and the company [board] was not even informed about the development. Although the deal seems to be in the best interest of all the stakeholders, [I am] completely disappointed with the lack of information to the board and to the minority shareholders ”

A deal to sell nearly the entire company. Finalised. With the independent directors, the board, clueless.

Anantharaman proceeded to resign from the chairmanship. As a result, chief executive Ajay Chitkara was appointed to chair the meeting. Chitkara attended it from his home, dressed in a casual T-shirt—a fitting visual for what many now see as a corporate tragedy in work-from-home attire.

The announcement that Delhivery would acquire 99.44% of Ecom Express for Rs 1,400 crore had come two months earlier. But that amount hid more than it revealed.

“The deal did not happen at Rs 1,400 crore but at Rs 1,100 crore only, as [Ecom Express] had Rs 300 crore in the bank,” said a person close to the development. “This is the money that Delhivery would use for integration purposes. A very sweet deal for the company [given that it’s just 0.5X of Ecom Express’ revenue, unlike 2–5X, which is usually the case].” 

That’s definitely strange for a logistics company with over Rs 2,500 crore in annual revenue and an approved IPO from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi).

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