OYO Appoints Sonal Sinha As CEO Of G6 Hospitality

Amid the growing buzz around its much-awaited initial public offering (IPO), travel tech major OYO has appointed Sonal Sinha as the chief executive officer of its recently-bought G6 Hospitality, the US-based operator of the Motel 6 and Studio 6 brands.

OYO, which is looking to pump $10 Mn to strengthen the digital assets of G6 Hospitality, bought the firm from Blackstone Real Estate for $525 Mn in an all-cash transaction last year.

This also comes at a time when OYO expects G6 Hospitality to contribute an EBITDA of INR 630 Cr in the upcoming financial year. “This contribution is anticipated to push OYO’s combined EBITDA to over INR 2,000 Cr in FY26,” a PTI report said.

Meanwhile, the company also said its chief growth officer Kavikrut is transitioning from his role and taking over as the CEO of Telangana’s incubator programme T-Hub.

As per Sinha’s LinkedIn profile, previously, he held the role of a country head for US and chief operating officer at OYO International. However, the company in a statement said that he will continue to report to Gautam Swaroom, the CEO at OYO International.

Sinha joined the Delhi NCR-based company’s finance department in 2015 and later moved up the ranks.

“His deep understanding of our operations and proven track record of enhancing business performance make him the ideal leader to spearhead G6 Hospitality while maintaining the strong momentum of our global business,” said Ritesh Agarwal, founder and group CEO at OYO.

“Kavikrut’s vision and leadership have left a mark, and while we’ll miss his presence, I am delighted that he has chosen to pursue a role that will add immense value to Telangana and India’s tech and startup ecosystem,” Agarwal said.

With about 20 years of experience in finance and accounting, Sinha is a certified chartered accountant and has worked with brands like Infosys and GE in the past.

On the other hand, Kavikrut joined OYO in 2015 as head of expansion from ecommerce giant Amazon where he worked as an operation manager.

Earlier in October 2024, the company did a major overhaul in its leadership cadre where it promoted five executives across technology, product, strategy, operations and distribution verticals. The reshuffling took place to boost the company’s international business.

Part of this major restructuring, Rachit Srivastava was elevated as the COO of OYO’s vacation homes business in Europe, Pankhuri Sakhuja was appointed to lead the German home listings business Traum and coworking platform Innov8.

Moreover to pull up its overseas expansion, the company also doubled down its investment in the UK as it plans to pump £50 Mn (INR 448.36 Cr) in the region. This would result in creating 1,000 direct and indirect jobs, boosting the region’s local economy and hospitality sector.

The development also comes at a time when the company has been looking to get listed this year seeking a valuation of up to $5 Bn. In fact, the company’s lenders are pushing OYO to get listed by October basis which they agree to give them an extension on the grant of $383 Mn until 2027. One of their lenders include Mizuho Financial Group.

OYO turned profitable in the financial year ending March 31, 2024 (FY24). It reported a net profit of INR 229.5 Cr during the year as against a net loss of INR 1,286.5 Cr in FY23. The company managed to achieve profitability by trimming its employee cost which reduced  by 52% to INR 744.3 Cr in FY24 from INR 1,548.8 Cr in the previous fiscal year.

However, the company’s operating revenue remained flat at, declining by 1.3% to INR 5,388.7 Cr  for FY24 from INR 5,463.9 Cr in the previous fiscal year.