Ola Electric has converted to a public company from a private limited one, regulatory filings showed on Friday.
The move by the electric two-wheeler maker comes ahead of its planned public listing. It has also changed its name to Ola Electric Mobility Limited, from Ola Electric Mobility Private Limited earlier.
The firm, which holds the largest market share in the electric scooter segment in India, has been working towards an initial public offering for sometime now.
As part of the preparations for an initial public offering (IPO), Ola Electric is reportedly working to file the draft red herring prospectus within this month. The firm is also in the process of reconstituting its board of directors by bringing multiple independent directors, with former Airtel chief executive Manoj Kohli, Mensa brands founder Anant Narayan, and YourStory founder Shradha Sharma among likely candidates to join the board.
Sources at the time told ET that the firm might look to list at a valuation of $7 billion or $8 billion, ideally by March 2024, just ahead of the national elections in India.
On October 26, Ola Electric closed a $240-million debt financing from the country’s largest lender, State Bank of India. The debt is part of a larger $384-million financing round that includes both debt and equity. On September 7, the firm had closed a $140 million equity investment round led by Singapore’s sovereign fund Temasek, which valued the electric scooter manufacturer at $5.4 billion.
Ola Electric said it would use the funds to set up its first lithium-ion cell manufacturing facility in Tamil Nadu and expand its EV business.
The firm competes with the likes of Hero Motocorp-backed Ather Energy and legacy two-wheeler maker TVS in the direct-to-consumer electric scooter market. Ola Electric sold 22,284 vehicles last month, up from 18,691 vehicles sold in September, according to the government’s transportation portal Vahan. Rival Ather Energy sold 8,025 vehicles in October, up from the 7,151 vehicles a month ago.
In September, Ather Energy announced a Rs 900 crore fundraise led by two-wheeler major Hero MotoCorp and Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC.
On August 15, Ola Electric launched a new scooter model, the Ola S1 X, and said it plans to launch electric bikes in four variations by 2024-end. A few days earlier, rival Ather had launched an entry-level electric scooter model called the 450S.
