Bhavish Aggarwal's Ola's Ola Electric's foray into the equity markets with its IPO and eventual listing was one of the biggest headliners of the world of business news.
Ola's Restructuring Plans
The company shares have progressed with some major crests and troughs. Now, as the ambitious tech company looks for more of these fireworks events at Dalal Street, the company is reportedly looking to shuffle things around for strategic purposes.
As per reports, the Bhavish Aggarwal-led entity is gearing up to restructure the company. The company is in the works to transform into a conglomerate model.
This comes at a time, when Ola Consumer is shaping itself up for an Initial Public Offering or IPO.
Ola Consumer is nothing new, the company, formerly known as Ola Cabs, is one the major players in the cab-aggregator and transportation business, competing alongside the like of InDrive, Uber and Rapido, among others.
File Photo
From Associates To Subsidiaries
Aggarwal himself owns 9 per cent in the cab company.
The strategic move involves bringing the listed Ola Electric, ride-hailing app operator Ola Consumer, and his AI startup company Krutrim under the same roof.
Currently, all these entities are associate firms and are subsidiaries of one parent firm or main company. With this restructuring, the aforementioned companies would come under one parent company. This could be compared to Mark Zuckerberg's Meta case. However, there are some fine distinctions in this case.
Unlike Aggarwal, all of the current Meta companies were not founded by Zuckerberg, as some of them were acquired. With that move, Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook, Messenger, and Threads, along with other companies are under the umbrella of Meta Platforms, which is the largest social media conglomerate in the world.
Bhavish Aggarwal, Ola Chairman and Group CEO on electric scooter | Ola
Why Is It Being Done?
Now, coming to Aggarwal, why is this step being taken? As associate companies, the principal company has limited influence. However, a conglomerate structure would streamline the company and allow the parent company with greater sway, in the general direction and philosophy of the group companies.
As of now, the Bhavish Aggarwal-led group has Ola Consumer (cabs), Ola Electric, Krutrim AI and Ola Maps under his belt. As per reports, Ola Maps, Aggarwal's indigenous response to Google Maps, is first in line for this restructuring.
