Indian e-scooter maker Ola Electric is aiming to raise $734 million in the first IPO by an Indian electric vehicle maker.
Ola Electric has reported revenue of INR 27,826.97 million and net loss of INR 14,720.79 million for the fiscal year ended 31 March 2023.
“Our mission is to really make India a global EV hub,” Ola’s chairman Bhavish Aggarwal told reporters at a press conference in Mumbai.
SoftBank-backed Ola Electric has become the biggest electric scooter player in a country where adoption of clean vehicles is still low, but rising rapidly. Ola Electric had grabbed 46 percent share in the e-scooter market as of June 30 despite slashing sales goals last year.
Ola’s push into e-scooters has disrupted the EV market forcing incumbents such as TVS, Hero MotoCorp and Bajaj Auto to focus on innovation. Its entry into the motorcycle segment, which makes up two-thirds of total two-wheelers sold in the country, will intensify competition.
A term sheet for the IPO, which will run from Aug. 1 to Aug. 6, puts a value of $4 billion on the company, which sold its first scooter in 2021, Reuters news report said.
That valuation is about 25 percent lower than Ola’s last funding round in September, led by Singapore’s investment firm Temasek which valued the EV maker at $5.4 billion.
The lower figure stems from a correction in the valuation of global tech companies as well as Ola’s desire to attract participants to the stock offering.
The IPO is set to draw bids from Fidelity, Nomura and Norges Bank at the $4 billion valuation, as well as several Indian mutual funds.
In the IPO, Ola will issue new shares to raise $657 million while existing investors offload their stake of about $77 million to IPO investors.
The loss-making company unveiled the price band of 72 rupees to 76 rupees ($0.86-$0.91) in an advertisement in the Financial Express newspaper, with a discount of 7 rupees a share for some eligible employees.
Investors such as SoftBank and Matrix Partners will sell part of their stakes in the IPO.
Monday’s newspaper ad showed 10 percent of the IPO will be reserved for retail investors, with proceeds going to fund capital expenditure and research and development efforts.