OYO to reduce target share price of its planned IPO as tech valuations tumble

Global hospitality technology major OYO is reducing, by two-thirds, its target share price for its stock-market debut, a decision made by its founder after tech valuations tumbled, a media report said on Monday, March 27. As early as this week, the company plans to file a new initial public offering (IPO) document, according to Bloomberg, citing sources.

The company will describe plans in the filing to sell only one-third of the new shares it had intended, reducing the amount of fresh capital it is projected to receive. Moreover, the report said, while the tourism market has recovered from the pandemic-era low, OYO, once valued at roughly $10 billion as India's Airbnb equivalent, is still losing money.

Meanwhile, founder Ritesh Agarwal borrowed billions of dollars to increase his stake in the company. This is the SoftBank Group-backed startup's second IPO attempt after India's stock market regulator raised many red flags on its first attempt in late 2021.

Technology company valuations have declined since then, as inflation and rising interest rates have reduced customer spending and caused concerns of a recession. Further, the report mentioned that no shares will be offered for sale by OYO's current investors.

SoftBank owns almost half of the firm, which is formally known as Oravel Stays Ltd. and also has backing from Airbnb Inc. In 2020, OYO reported consolidated revenue of $951 million for the financial year 2018-19, an over fourfold increase from $211 million as reported in the previous fiscal.

However, the company's net loss also increased to $335 million, due to a rise in expenses, the company said in a statement.

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