India’s ride-hailing firm Ola has plans to go public next year — but, a final date for the initial public offering has yet to be decided, chairman and group CEO Bhavish Aggarwal told CNBC.
He said both Ola and Ola Electric — the company’s electric-vehicle arm — have adequate capital and strong balance sheets.
“We have not publicly announced any IPO plans as of now,” he said Friday on CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia.”
“But, both companies in due course will go public. Ola will obviously go public sooner, it’s a more mature business — sometime next year, but we don’t have any final, final date to share with everybody,” Aggarwal added.
Ola cab drivers talk with each other as they wait for passengers by a roadside in Amritsar.
NARINDER NANU | AFP | Getty Images
Last month, Ola announced that Plum Wood Investment, an affiliate of global private equity firm Warburg Pincus, and Singapore state investor Temasek were planning to invest $500 million into the company ahead of its IPO.
But the ride-hailing firm, which is also backed by Japan’s SoftBank Group, did not disclose any details about its planned float.
Indian media reported that a clutch of existing Ola investors, including investment firm Tiger Global, sold their shares to Warburg Pincus and Temasek. India’s anti-monopoly watchdog this month said it approved those transactions.
“Our investors are very, very strongly backing us in our journey,” Aggarwal told CNBC. “They’re very happy with the progress our businesses are making. And they continue to be very excited about our vision and our progress towards that vision.”
Most of Ola’s operations are in India, but the company’s ride-hailing services are also available in the U.K., Australia and New Zealand.
