Ather IPO: EV Major Bags INR 1,340 Cr From Anchor Investors

SUMMARY

The company allotted 4.17 Cr shares to 36 anchor investors, including SBI, ADIA, Invesco, Franklin Templeton, Morgan Stanley, Societe Generale, among others

As many as 7 domestic mutual funds applied for the anchor round through 14 schemes, and were allotted 49.6% of the total anchor allocation

Ather’s IPO will comprise a fresh issue of equity shares up to INR 2,626 Cr and an offer for sale of up to 1.10 Cr shares

Ahead of the opening of its highly anticipated IPO, EV maker Ather Energy has raised INR 1,340 Cr from anchor investors at INR 321 per share.

The company allotted 4.17 Cr shares to 36 anchor investors, including SBI, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), Invesco, Franklin Templeton, ICICI Prudential, Morgan Stanley, Societe Generale, among others, today.

“The board of directors of the company at its meeting held on April 25, 2025… has finalised allocation of 41,745,576 equity shares to anchor investors at anchor investor allocation price of INR 321 per equity share (including share premium of INR 320 per equity share)…,” said the company in a filing with the BSE.

As many as 7 domestic mutual funds applied for the anchor round through 14 schemes, and were allotted 49.6% (2.06 Cr shares) of the total anchor allocation.

The public issue will open on April 28 and close on April 30. As per its red herring prospectus (RHP), Ather’s IPO will comprise a fresh issue of equity shares up to INR 2,626 Cr and an offer for sale of up to 1.10 Cr shares.

While promoters and cofounders Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain plan to sell 9.80 Lakh equity shares each as part of the OFS, Caladium Investment will offload 60.03 Lakh shares. Tiger Global, National Investment and Infrastructure Fund II, among others will also participate in the OFS component.

Notably, Ather’s biggest shareholder, auto giant Hero MotoCorp which owns 38.19% stake in the startup, will not sell its stake during the IPO.

The original equipment manufacturer (OEM) has set a price band of INR 304 to INR 321 per share for its public issue. At the upper end of the spectrum, the EV manufacturer would be valued at about INR 11,955 Cr (around $1.4 Bn).

As per the RHP, it plans to utilise the fresh capital to set up a new manufacturing plant in Maharashtra, repay loans, shore up research and development (R&D) and bolster marketing initiatives.

Ather will likely finalise the basis of allotment of shares by May 2, and the shares will be credited to the demat accounts of successful bidders by May 5. The shares are expected to list on the BSE and the NSE on May 6.

The EV maker has earmarked 75% of its public issue for qualified institutional buyers (QIBs), while 15% and 10% have been set aside for non-institutional investors (NIIs) and retail investors, respectively.

Founded in 2013 by Mehta and Jain, Ather is one of India’s leading two-wheeler EV manufacturers. It also operates its own charging infrastructure.

Ather filed its DRHP in September last year for an INR 3,100 Cr IPO. It received the market regulator’s nod for the public listing in December 2024.

Subsequently, while filing its RHP earlier this week, the company trimmed the size of its fresh issue and OFS component from 2.2 Cr shares previously.

On the financial front, the EV maker managed to reduce its net loss by more than 25% to INR 577.9 Cr during the nine-months ended December 2024 from INR 776.4 Cr in the year-ago period. Meanwhile, revenue from operations zoomed 28.32% to INR 1,578.9 Cr during the period under review INR 1,230.4 Cr in the three quarters of FY25.