SEBI sends back Oyo's IPO papers, may delay its listing by months

Online hotel booking app Oyo has sped up the process of finding rooms for travelers, but its own arrival in the stock market hasn't been on schedule. First expected in 2021, Oyo finally announced plans for an IPO in 2022, but had to push it off after big ticket debuts such as Paytm and Zomato tanked. After navigating a volatile market, Oyo is finally ready to go public in 2023, but may face another hurdle from the market regulator.

The securities and exchanges board of India (SEBI) has reportedly written to the hospitality startup, seeking updates in its Draft Red Herring Prospectus. This response from SEBI can delay the much anticipated IPO once again, as Oyo needs to add risks, key performance indicators, litigations and basis for valuation to the draft. Despite a possible two to three month delay because of the process, the firm is reportedly looking at this as an opportunity to publish EBITDA profits for FY23.

A Draft Red Herring Prospectus is a document which introduces a business to potential investors, and contains the company vision, targets and results. It has to communicate details effectively to the target audience, and is scanned by SEBI for adequate information. Data in it doesn't include number of shares and the issue price for the IPO.

In the first half of FY23, Oyo had submitted an additional red herring prospectus, to make sure that investors are aware of its performance since the IPO application date in 2021.