Ather Energy Sets Price Band Of INR 304-321 For IPO

EV major Ather Energy has set a price band of INR 304 to INR 321 per share for its initial public offering (IPO) that will open for subscription on April 28.

The anchor investor bidding will take place on April 25. The issue will close on April 30.

At the upper end of the price band, Ather Energy would be valued at about INR 11,955 Cr (around $1.4 Bn).

Ather filed its red herring prospectus (RHP) with SEBI yesterday. Its IPO will comprise a fresh issue of equity shares aggregating up to INR 2,626 Cr and an offer for sale of up to 1.10 Cr shares. At INR 321 apiece, the size of the OFS will be INR 354.76 Cr.

Promoters Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain will be selling 9.80 Lakh equity shares each in the OFS.

Among investors, Caladium Investment, which owns a 15.43% stake in the company, will offload 60.03 Lakh shares via the OFS. Tiger Global, National Investment and Infrastructure Fund II, IITM Incubation Cell, IITMS Rural Technology and Business Incubator are the other selling shareholders.

However, Ather’s biggest shareholder, auto giant Hero MotoCorp with a 38.19% stake, will not participate in the OFS component. 

Founded in 2013 by Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain, Ather is one of India’s leading two-wheeler EV manufacturers. It also manufactures its own battery packs and has its own charging infrastructure. After building its market on its 450 series of escooters, which comprises Ather 450S, Ather 450X, and Ather 450 Apex, it launched a family escooter series Rizta last year and also forayed into the smart helmet category.

Ather plans to use INR 927.2 Cr of the total net proceeds from the IPO to set up a new electric two-wheeler manufacturing plant in Maharashtra. The EV maker will use INR 40 Cr to repay the loans it has taken.

It will invest INR 750 Cr in research and development and INR 300 Cr in marketing initiatives.

Ather narrowed its consolidated net loss by 26% to INR 577.9 Cr in the nine-months ended December 31, 2024 (9M FY25) from INR 776.4 Cr in the year-ago period. Revenue from operations jumped 28% to INR 1,578.9 Cr in the reported period from INR 1,230.4 Cr in 9M FY24.

The IPO-bound EV maker sold 1.08 Lakh escooters in 9M FY25 as against 74,000 EV units sold in the corresponding period of the fiscal prior.

Other EV Startups Gearing Up For IPO

Ather’s public listing, when it transpires, will be the second by an electric mobility company in the country after Ola Electric. The Bhavish Aggarwal-led company went public last August. Its 6,145 Cr+ IPO was one of the largest in 2024. 

Greaves Electric Mobility, which sells its escooters under the Ampere brand, is also preparing to knock at the doors of Dalal Street. The EV maker filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with SEBI for INR 1,000 Cr+ IPO in December 2024. However, the markets regulator has not approved its draft IPO papers yet.

Meanwhile, Hyderabad-based electric vehicle maker Pure EV converted into a public company last month ahead of its potential IPO.