Photo printing is still lucrative enough to invest in? Naukri.com parent Info Edge* has taken a majority stake in Canvera, a company which provides customized photobooks, and allows users to search and contact professional photographers in a city. Canvera has raised Rs 20 crore in all in this round, of which 17.3 crore are from Info Edge, and the rest are from "certain existing and undisclosed investors". This has pushed Info Edge's stake in Canvera to 57%. Prior to this investment, Info Edge had a 49% stake in Canvera, for a total investment of Rs 90.1 crore (as of 25th May 2016). With this investment, Info Edge has invested Rs 107.4 crore in the company since 2012, when it made an initial investment of Rs 35 crore. The announcement mentions that Rs 46.3 crore had been provisioned in December 2015. Diminution of value? Interestingly, Info Edge's Annual Report mentions that it "transferred its entire shareholding of Canvera Digital Technologies Private Limited to its subsidiary Smartweb Internet Services Limited", and more importantly, that "During the year an exceptional loss of Rs 463 million (i.e. Rs 46.3 crore) was booked on account of diminution in value"..."During the year, diminution in the carrying value of investment amounting to Rs 426.76 Mn (Rs 42.676 crore) has been made in respect of Canvera Digital Technologies Private Limited for decline considered as other than temporary (represented by investments in equity shares of Rs 25.61 Mn (i.e. Rs 2.561 crore) and Preference shares of Rs 401.15 Mn (i.e. Rs 40.115 crore))." We've contacted Info Edge for…
