According to two persons familiar with the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity, Bengaluru-based electric 2-wheeler company Ather Energy has begun negotiations with investment banks to explore the possibility of going public in the near future.
Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain created Ather, one of India’s premier electric two-wheeler startups, in 2013.
“In recent weeks, Ather has met with a number of large domestic and international investment banks to discuss the potential of an IPO. These are preliminary discussions, and they’re trying to figure out what kind of valuations they can expect if they go forward with an IPO in the coming quarters,
possibly as soon as the end of the year, but most likely in the first part of next calendar year,” said the first individual mentioned above. “Because the talks are still in the early stages, it’s feasible that Aether will opt out of an IPO at this time, given the present market conditions.
” In recent market declines triggered by rising interest rates in the US and other major nations, tech stocks have taken a beating, and investors aren’t very enthusiastic about tech IPOs right now.
However, other consumer-focused firms, such as Ather, have begun discussions with banks about their IPO intentions,” the first individual stated.According to an Ather spokeswoman, the company has no intentions to go public this year.
Ather raised $128 million in its Series E round of fundraising last month from the Strategic Opportunities Fund of National Investment and Infrastructure Fund Ltd and Hero MotoCorp, a major shareholder in the company. The company is valued at just around $1 billion.
The money will be used to expand manufacturing facilities, research and development, charging infrastructure, and the company’s retail network, according to the company. “After a great start to the year, the company delivered 3,779 units to customers in April 2022, setting a new monthly sales record.
The Ather 450X, Ather Energy’s flagship product, is seeing a 25% increase in booking orders quarter over quarter. Ather Energy already has a well-established retail sales network in place across the country. With 38 Experience Centres in 32 cities, the company plans to expand to 150 Experience Centres in 100 cities by 2023.
“In a press release announcing the financing, the company claimed.Ather will use this investment to build up production capacity at its second manufacturing unit, which is slated to go online in a “few months from now,” according to Mehta in an interview with Mint “
,, and have a monthly production capacity of 35,000 units Ather’s current production plant can only produce 10,000 units per month, although demand for Ather’s scooters is already exceeding 10,000 units per month, according to Mehta.
With various rivals such as Ather, the electric 2-wheeler market is rapidly growing and evolving.
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