SoftBank Group-backed Indian e-scooter maker Ola Electric on Friday filed to raise at least 55 billion rupees ($661.9 million) in an initial public offering (IPO) that is tipped to be one of the country’s biggest share sales next year.
The offering, which is the first by an EV maker in the country, will include an issue of fresh stock, with CEO Bhavish Aggarwal selling up to 47.4 million shares, the draft prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Board of India showed.
Backed by Japan’s SoftBank and Singapore’s investment firm Temasek, the company was valued at $5.4 billion in a recent funding round, Reuters reported in September.
Ola Electric dominates India’s electric two-wheeler segment, with a 32% market share and competes with TVS Motor, Bajaj Auto, and Ather Energy, according to data from the Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles.
Ather, backed by Singapore’s GIC, is also planning an India listing and has a market valuation of $739.4 million, according to data from investment tracker Tracxn.
Ola Electric’s IPO comes at a time when India has seen a record 213 IPOs this year, including from Tata Technologies and JSW Infrastructure, while the benchmark indexes have scaled record highs.
Ola Electric has slashed its sales goals for 2023-2025 by more than half and delayed its target of achieving profits by a year after reduced government incentives pushed up e-scooter prices.
Its consolidated loss widened to 14.72 billion rupees for the year ended March 31, while revenue from operations climbed more than seven-fold.
India’s government anticipates the share of electric two-wheelers in overall sales to rise to 60-70% by 2030 from 4.7% in 2023.
Kotak Mahindra, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America are among the lead managers to the IPO.
Reuters