Ather Energy DRHP: Decoding The Shareholding Pattern & People At The Top

Electric two-wheeler maker Ather Energy has filed its draft red herring prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for its initial public offering worth over INR 3,100 Cr. 

The IPO comprises a fresh issue of equity shares worth INR 3,100 Cr and an offer-for-sale (OFS) component of up to 2.2 Cr equity shares. 

Caladium Investments, National Investment and Infrastructure Fund II, Internet Fund III, 3State Ventures and cofounders Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain are among the investors who will offload their shares via OFS.

Additionally, Ather aims to raise INR 620 Cr through a pre-IPO placement and if such placement is undertaken, the amount will be deducted from the total fresh issue size. 

Proceeds worth INR 927.2 Cr from the IPO will go towards phase I of its manufacturing facility in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. 

Besides, a portion of funds raised through IPO will also be allocated towards research and development (R&D), marketing initiatives, infrastructure, production initiatives and other general corporate purposes.

Founded in 2013 by Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain, Ather Energy manufactures EV two-wheelers and battery packs and also has its charging infrastructure. It competes against the likes of Ola Electric, TVS Motor, and Bajaj Auto, Tata Passenger Electric Mobility, Mahindra Electric Automobile, among others

The development comes a month after Ather’s counterpart Ola Electric went public and raised over INR 6,145.6 Cr in IPO at a valuation of $4 Bn. Despite this high valuation, Ola Electric made a muted market debut in bourses last month. 

At the heart of this is a growing number of Indian startups either gearing up for or making their market debut in recent times. 

Last month, three new-age startups including FirstCry, Ola Electric and Unicommerce made their debut on the stock market. Besides, startups like Smartworks and Ecomm Express also filed their DRHP with the SEBI. 

In just the first eight months of 2024, a total of 10 new-age tech companies like Go Digit General Insurance, FirstCry, Unicommerce, TBO Tek, Ola Electric, Awfis, ixigo, Menhood, TAC Security and Trust Fintech have made their debut on the exchanges.

Ather Energy’s 547-page DRHP with SEBI outlines its shareholding pattern and people at the helm. Here is a look at the company’s Cap Table 

Who Sits At Ather Energy’s Cap Table?

Hero MotoCorp is the largest shareholder  in Ather Energy with 115.08 Cr shares, owning a 37% stake in the company on a fully diluted basis. 

Caladium Investment Pte Ltd is the second-most largest shareholder with 4.6 Cr shares, representing 15.04% ownership in the company on a fully diluted basis.

National Investment and Infrastructure Fund II and Internet Fund III hold 6.6% and 6.3% stakes in Ather, respectively, while both its promoters, Tarun Sanjay Mehta and Swapnil Babanlal Jain occupy a 6.6% stake each. 

Who’s Who At Ather Energy?

Tarun Sanjay Mehta

Tarun Sanjay Mehta, one of the promoters, is an executive director and the chief executive officer of the company. He has been associated with Ather since its incorporation and leads operations in product, business, and growth. He has over 10 years of experience in the EV sector.

Swapnil Babanlal Jain

Swapnil Babanlal Jain, one of the promoters of the company, is an executive director and the chief technical officer of the company. He has been associated with Ather since its incorporation and works on both the long-term technology roadmap for the company, as well as on the day-to-day aspects of creating an engineering team and culture.

Niranjan Kumar Gupta 

Niranjan Kumar Gupta is a non-executive director of the company and a nominee of HMCL on the board. He has been associated with the company since November 3, 2020. He is a qualified chartered accountant, company secretary, and cost and works accountant. He was previously associated with Vedanta Group as the chief financial officer for the aluminium and power vertical and is currently the chief executive officer of HMCL. He has over 10 years of experience in finance, mergers and acquisitions, and supply chain.

Nilesh Shrivastava

Nilesh Shrivastava is a nominee director of the company and a nominee of National Investment and Infrastructure Fund II on the board. He has been associated with the company since July 22, 2022. He was previously associated with the International Finance Corporation as a manager. He is currently designated as a partner at the Strategic Opportunities Fund at National Investment and Infrastructure Fund II. He has over 25 years of experience in private equity, portfolio management, and banking.

Pankaj Sood 

Pankaj Sood is a nominee director of the company and a nominee of Caladium Investment Pte Ltd on the board. He has been associated with the company since November 11, 2022. He was previously associated with Kotak Mahindra Capital Company Limited, Ernst & Young, and SBI Capital Markets. He is currently employed by GIC in the global leadership group. He has over 25 years of experience in finance, advisory, and capital markets.

Ram Kuppuswamy

Ram Kuppuswamy is a non-executive director of the company and a nominee of HMCL on the board. He has been associated with the company since January 27, 2023. Previously, he was with Bharti Airtel Limited and VMWare Singapore Pte. Ltd.

Kaushik Dutta

Kaushik Dutta is an independent director of the company. He is a fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and a co-founder of Thought Arbitrage Research Institute, an independent not-for-profit research think tank working in the areas of corporate governance and sustainability. He was also associated with Price Waterhouse & Co Chartered Accountants LLP, and Lovelock & Lewes, Chartered Accountants, as a partner for over 16 years.

Neelam Dhawan

Neelam Dhawan is the chairperson and an independent director in the company. She was previously associated with Hewlett-Packard Enterprise India Private Limited as vice president of solutions sales and with HP India Sales Private Limited, Hewlett-Packard India Private Limited, and Microsoft Corporation (India) Private Limited as managing director. Currently, she serves as an independent director on the boards of ICICI Bank Limited, Yatra Online Limited, Yatra Online Inc., Capita PLC, and Tech Mahindra Limited. She has several years of experience in information technology.

Sanjay Nayak

Sanjay Nayak is an independent director of the company. He has been associated with the company since August 27, 2024. He was previously associated with Tejas Networks Limited as its managing director and chief executive officer. He has several years of industry experience and expertise in electronics and telecommunications.

Leaders At The Helm Of Management:

Sohil Dilipkumar Parekh

Sohil Dilipkumar Parekh is the chief financial officer of the company, overseeing financial strategy, reporting, operations, fundraising, and tax matters. Prior to joining the company on September 9, 2022, Sohil was associated with Claris Limited and has past work experience across various other sectors, including waste-to-energy, pharmaceuticals, market research, business process outsourcing, IT, and ITES.

Puja Aggarwal

Puja Aggarwal is the company secretary and compliance officer of the company and is responsible for ensuring managerial, secretarial and regulatory compliance. She has been associated with the company since April 17, 2023.

Harendra Saksena

Harendra Saksena is the company’s chief procurement officer and is responsible for maintaining relationships with suppliers, managing overall operations, and supervising the company’s procurement requirements. He has been associated with the company since July 4, 2022.

Sanjeev Kumar Singh 

Sanjeev Kumar Singh is the chief operating officer of the company and is responsible for manufacturing operations across the company’s factories, program management, and planning. He has been associated with the company since July 11, 2022. Prior to joining the company, he was associated with GENPACT India, Bosch Limited, ACME Tele Power Limited, and Tata Motors Limited.

Ravneet Singh Phokela

Ravneet Singh Phokela is the chief business officer of the company and is responsible for marketing, sales, after-sales and service, charging infrastructure, insights and analytics, and customer service verticals. He has been associated with the company since September 1, 2015.