Ather Energy, the Indian electric scooter manufacturer, has reduced the size of its initial public offering (IPO) by 18% to 26.26 billion Indian rupees ($308.3 million). The Bengaluru-based company is now seeking a post-money valuation of $1.4 billion, a decrease from its initial target of $1.5 billion to $2 billion due to current market conditions. Existing shareholders will sell 11.1 million shares, a significant reduction from the initially proposed 22 million shares.
Bidding for Ather shares will be open for three days starting April 28, with anchor investors participating in a private placement on April 25. Ather’s co-founders Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain, along with National Investment and Infrastructure Fund Limited (NIIF) and Tiger Global Management’s Internet Fund III, plan to sell their stakes. However, Hero MotoCorp, which holds over 40% of the startup, will not sell its shares.
The company plans to use 9.27 billion Indian rupees ($108.8 million) from the net proceeds to establish an electric two-wheeler manufacturing facility in Maharashtra.
Ather Energy trims IPO size
An additional 7.5 billion rupees ($88 million) will be dedicated to research and development, while 3 billion rupees ($35.2 million) will cover marketing initiatives.
Ather also intends to allocate 400 million Indian rupees ($4.7 million) to repay its debts. In 2024, Ather saw a 21% increase in sales, reaching 126,353 units, and held a 10.7% market share, according to government data and the CRISIL report referenced in the draft prospectus. Founded in 2013, Ather launched its first electric two-wheeler in 2018.
For the nine months ending in December, the startup reported a revenue of 15.79 billion Indian rupees ($185.4 million) and a net loss of 5.78 billion Indian rupees ($67.8 million), an improvement from the previous year’s net loss of 7.76 billion Indian rupees ($91.1 million). Ather’s primary competitor, Ola Electric, which held a 34.1% market share last year, recently listed on the Indian stock exchanges. Despite being the largest listing by an Indian firm in two years, Ola’s share price has declined by nearly 42%, closing at 53.02 Indian rupees on Tuesday.
