Ola has been busy this year, and as it is gearing up for its upcoming IPO, Ola Electric rolled out its much-awaited Ola S1, Ola S1 Pro electric scooters (the Bengaluru-based ride-hailing giant has already delivered scooters to 100 customers in Bengaluru and Chennai). This time, the ridesharing giant raised $500 million through a Term Loan B (TLB) from marquee international institutional investors. TLBs usually have a floating interest rate with tenures of five to seven years.
The IPO-bound Ola thus joins names such as Byju’s and Oyo – both of them have raised amounts through the TLB route. Byju’s had raised $1.2 billion through the TLB, while Oyo was the first name on the list, and had raised $660 million through its maiden TLB this July. Ola is also one of the first Indian startups to be publicly rated by leading international trading agencies Moody’s and S&P.
Ola also noted that the proposed loan issuance had received a staggering response from investors with interest and commitment of nearly $1.5 billion. It is expected that this amount will be utilized to accelerate its vision for the future of mobility across other businesses. While Ola made its mark in the arena as a ride-hailing company, it innovated and adapted to enter new sectors such as vehicle commerce (Ola Cars), delivery with foods (which is Ola Foods), quick commerce (a realm it recently ventured into) and financial services (OFS, standing for Ola Financial Services).
“The overwhelming response to our Term Loan B is a reflection of the strength of our business and our continued focus on improving unit economics alongside rapid growth. At Ola, we are accelerating our journey towards building the New Mobility ecosystem to help a billion people move sustainably,” said Bhavish Aggarwal, founder & CEO, Ola. J.P. Morgan and Deutsche Bank served as the joint lead arrangers for this financing.
Ola has raised funds several times this year, the latest being $139 million from IIFL, Edelweiss, and others. It had also gobbled up $500 million from Warburg Pincus and Temasek Holdings and $200 million from SoftBank, Falcon Edge, and others. It has been looking to raise up to $1 billion in its IPO as well.
