SoftBank-backed ride-hailing firm Ola has raised $500 million led by Singapore government's investment fund Temasek Holdings and private equity major Warburg Pincus, leading up to its public offering.
Ola on Friday said Temasek, Warburg Pincus affiliate Plum Wood Investment and Ola founder Bhavish Aggarwal have invested $500 million (about Rs 3,733 crore) in the ride-hailing platform ahead of its proposed IPO, in a statement.
This is amongst the largest investments in the Indian consumer internet space by these funds, the statement said.
Ola continues to scale up across various categories and geographies in its ride-hailing business, it added.
“Over the last 12 months we’ve made our ride hailing business more robust, resilient and efficient," Ola founder Bhavish Aggarwal said in a statement. “With strong recovery post lockdown and a shift in consumer preference away from public transportation, we are well-positioned to capitalise on the various urban mobility needs of our customers."
Aggarwal added that he looks forward to collaborating with the new partners in its "next phase of growth”.
“They (Ola) are the leading mobility platform and one of the biggest consumer internet platforms in India with a robust and fast-growing business. We look forward to collaborating with Bhavish and the team in the next phase of Ola's growth,” Vishal Mahadevia, Managing Director and Head of India at Warburg Pincus, said.
Ola has previously talked of a possible listing as well. An IPO will help Ola investors like SoftBank, Tiger Global and Steadview Capital to exit or partially sell their stake in the company to return funds to their shareholders.
Ola's Bhavish Aggarwal had shared his view on the proposed IPO last year during the MEA-PIC Geo-Economic Conference held in Pune. "Our India business is in a strong position, we are doing the same in other countries also. The next logical step is for us to list in the public markets; we are an Indian domicile, unlike some of our peers, so we list in India,” he was cited as having said by Business Standard.
Founded in 2011 by Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati, Ola offers its services to over 250 cities in India, the UK, Australia and New Zealand.
It competes with Uber in these markets as well.
(With PTI inputs)
