By M. Sriram
MUMBAI (Reuters) -India’s Ola Electric is planning a stock market listing by the end of 2023, and has appointed investment bank Goldman Sachs and domestic bank Kotak to manage the share sale, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
Ola Electric, which makes electric scooters, is backed by investors such as SoftBank Group Corp and Tiger Global Management, and was valued at $5 billion in its last fundraise in 2022.
More investment banks are likely to be added closer to the deal, the source said. Local business website Moneycontrol first reported the IPO plans earlier in the day.
Ola Electric, founded by Bhavish Aggarwal, who also established ride-hailing firm Ola and competes with Uber, is trying to capture India’s nascent but promising electric vehicle market.
It sold around 30,000 scooters in April, its highest so far, and is the market leader in the EV scooter space, the person said.
The EV scooter company has not finalised how much it plans to raise in the initial public offering (IPO) or what valuation it will seek, but it will aim for a valuation higher than $5 billion, the source said.
If it sells 10% in the IPO – the minimum legally required to list – at that price, this could be India’s biggest IPO this year amid tepid market conditions.
Filing its draft documents, marketing to investors and listing by the end of the year will be “difficult,” the source said, but added that Chief Executive Aggarwal was insistent on the timeline.
A spokesperson from Ola declined to comment. Kotak and Goldman Sachs did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.
(Reporting by M. Sriram; Editing by Sonia Cheema)
