Eyeing $1Bn Via IPO Route, Bhavish Aggarwal To Woo Global Investors Next Week

Electric vehicle (EV) maker Ola Electric will reportedly commence a series of talks with investors in Singapore and the US next week to discuss its planned public listing.

Sources told Reuters that the EV manufacturer is eyeing a late 2023 listing and plans to raise anywhere between $600 Mn to $1 Bn as part of its initial public offering (IPO). 

Sources added that Ola founder and chief executive officer (CEO) Bhavish Aggarwal is expected to fly to Singapore, the US and the UK over the next few weeks to pitch before investors such as Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC, BlackRock and mutual fund giant T Rowe Price.

As per the report, the meetings with investors will focus on Ola Electric’s business, growth trajectory and valuation. Sources added that the EV original equipment manufacturer (OEM) is eyeing a valuation north of $5 Bn.

While the planned IPO is still months away, Ola Electric’s earlier-than-usual outreach is part of the company’s bid to explain the business potential of India’s nascent EV market.

“EVs are still an emerging space and while there are some global parallels, it is an even newer story in India. So, Bhavish wants to take the extra time to create comfort for investors,” a source was quoted as saying. 

Meanwhile, Ola Electric has reportedly put its IPO plans in full throttle and mulls filing its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with regulators by August this year. 

The report noted that the company has appointed Bank of America as the lead manager for the IPO. Alongside, players such as Goldman Sachs, Citi, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Axis Bank and ICICI Securities will also oversee the planned listing. 

Earlier this week, it was also reported that the EV maker appointed finance veteran Topsy Mathew as the head of corporate finance and treasury as it geared up for a potential IPO. The company has also roped in Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas and Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas as legal advisors for the planned listing.

The development comes a couple of months after reports surfaced that Ola Electric had raised $300 Mn as part of its latest funding round at a valuation of $6 Bn. Backed by investors such as Tekne Private Ventures, Alpine Opportunity Fund and Edelweiss, Ola Electric had previously raised around $200 Mn at a valuation of $5 Bn in January 2022. 

Ahead of the planned IPO, Ola’s parent entity has restructured its entire company structure over the past year and has even shut down multiple verticals, including quick commerce delivery platform OlaDash and used car selling marketplace OlaCars. 

Ola has also fired hundreds of employees across multiple verticals, including engineering, sales and finance teams in the past couple of years amid the ongoing funding winter. 

Despite the hiccups, the company has been performing well in the EV space. Ola Electric has led the industry in terms of two-wheeler EV registration in the past few months. Last month alone, it claimed to have sold more than 30,000 ebikes while logging a year-on-year (YoY) growth of 300%. 

The EV space in the country is poised for healthy growth, largely on the back of the rising adoption of electric vehicles and a spurt in the construction of related infrastructure in the country. Buoyed by government subsidies and an uptick in user demand, the EV space in India has made rapid strides in the past few years and is projected to grow to a market size of $114 Bn by 2029.

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