IPO-bound Ola raises USD 500 million via Term Loan B
NEW DELHI: IPO-bound Ola on Thursday announced raising USD 500 million via a Term Loan B (TLB) from marquee international institutional investors. This announcement comes amid reports that the Softbank-funded firm is in talks to raise over USD 1 billion in funding through a mix of equity and debt over the next few months as it prepares to launch its IPO next year.
Ola said in a statement that the proposed loan issuance received a staggering response from investors with interest and commitment of approximately USD 1.5 billion. The mobility firm is expected to utilise the term loan to fuel its various businesses including ride hailing, vehicle commerce, delivery with foods, quick commerce and financial services.
Ola founder & CEO Bhavish Aggarwal said: "The overwhelming response to our term loan B is a reflection of the strength of our business and our continued focus on improving unit economics alongside rapid growth. At Ola, we are accelerating our journey towards building the new mobility ecosystem to help a billion people move sustainably."
The fresh fund raise comes soon after Ola had raised about USD 139 million from a group of investors including IIFL, Edelweiss, and Sunil Munjal-led Hero Enterprise, in what appeared to be a pre-IPO fund raising. Earlier, Aggarwal had stated that the company has plans to go public in the first half of 2022.
CarTrade deploys Rs 750 crore to acquire firms; share prices fall
NEW DELHI: Used car marketplace CarTrade Tech on Friday said that it plans to deploy up to USD 100 million (Rs 750 crore) to strategically acquire and invest in automotive companies as it wants to strengthen its position as a leading automotive platform in India.
CarTrade competes fiercely with the likes of Droom, Cars24 and Mahindra First Choice. CraTrade said it will invest in companies that are driving innovation in fields such as auto finance, leasing, insurance, servicing, car ownership, EVs and new age tech to digitise the auto buying and selling journey.
CarTrade Tech founder & chairman Vinay Sanghi said, "We want to acquire and invest into companies which will help us accelerate the digital transformation process."
Shares of the publicly listed company closed the Thursday session in red on the BSE. The stock has already dropped by 40 per cent from its IPO price of Rs 1,618 to Rs 904. "The most disappointing aspect of CarTrade's IPO was that it was 100 per cent offer-for-sale (OFS), which meant that no money was flowing into the company for future expansion, while fierce competition and low entry barriers were the other risk concerns," said Kshitij Purohit, senior analyst at CapitalVia Global Research.