Ola Electric’s IPO Set to Make Millions for CEO Bhavish Aggarwal and Employees in India’s EV Boom

Bengaluru/Mumbai: Top executives and early investors in Ola Electric Mobility are set to earn big when the company becomes the first pure-play homegrown electric vehicle maker to list on the stock exchanges.

Ola Electric’s top 10 executives could see their shares valued at ₹10,260 crore, based on the lower end of the ₹72-76 price band set for the IPO, according to an analysis of its draft red herring prospectus by Mint. Founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal’s stake alone is worth about ₹9,919 crore, or $1.18 billion (at $1 = ₹83.75). He will sell 37,912,211 equity shares in the IPO, netting over ₹270 crore at the lower end of the price range.

Notable Investors

The company’s notable investors include Japan’s SoftBank Group, US hedge fund Tiger Global Management, Matrix Partners India, and Bollywood siblings Zoya and Farhan Akhtar.

Ola Electric’s much-anticipated market listing could energize not just domestic electric vehicle makers but also a large portion of India’s startup sector, which has been struggling with a funding drought.

Issue Size

The total issue size for Ola Electric would be around ₹6,145.96 crore, which includes an offer for sale of up to 84.94 million shares worth ₹645.96 crore and a fresh issue of shares worth about ₹5,500 crore.

The company’s total market value is expected to be around ₹33,500 crore ($4 billion) at the upper end of the price band. This is a notable discount to the $5.4 billion valuation it had in its last private funding round in September.

“The IPO could boost consumer confidence and attract more investment into the EV sector,” said Sanjay Israni, partner at corporate law firm Desai & Diwanji. “While early-stage investors will gain significantly from the sale, long-term investors in the IPO may also benefit from the fair valuation.”

Big Gains

Early investors like Tiger Global and Matrix Partners India are expected to see huge gains from the IPO. Tiger Global bought its Ola Electric shares at an average of ₹11.7 each, while Matrix bought theirs at ₹8.22. SoftBank’s average cost was ₹51.37 per share.

Among Ola’s top executives, Suvonil Chatterjee, the chief technology and product officer of Ola Group, holds shares worth about ₹150.7 crore. Ola Group includes the electric scooter manufacturer Ola Electric, established in 2017, and the ride-sharing platform Ola Cabs, founded in 2010.

Harish Abichandani, chief financial officer of Ola Electric, and N. Balachandar, chief people officer of Ola Group, together hold shares worth about ₹53 crore.

Jitesh Shah, a former Byju’s executive hired by Ola Electric in December to oversee its after-sales charging operations, has shares worth ₹7.2 crore. Former executives Arun G.R. (group CFO) and Slokarth Dash (former head of planning and strategy) together hold shares worth about ₹47 crore.

Stock Options to Employees

These employees received stock options under the company’s employee stock ownership plan (Esop) policy. However, not all employees have vested their options yet. The typical vesting period at Ola Electric is four years.

Other notable stakeholders include Gaurav Deepak, cofounder of financial services firm Avendus Capital, and Sumit Shah, CEO of enterprise e-commerce platform Dukaan.

Movie director Zoya Akhtar holds 177,841 equity shares after converting her 194,998 Series C compulsorily convertible preference shares (CCPS), acquired for ₹1.07 crore in December 2021. Actor and director Farhan Akhtar converted his 389,996 Series C CCPS, bought for ₹2.14 crore in December 2021, into 355,683 equity shares, according to Ola Electric’s IPO prospectus.

Zoya Akhtar’s shares are expected to be worth ₹1.3 crore, while Farhan Akhtar’s shares are worth ₹2.5 crore, giving them gains of 22% and 17%, respectively.