Electric scooter-maker Ather Energy Ltd, which counts New York-based alternative investment firm Tiger Global and the sovereign wealth funds of Singapore and Abu Dhabi as its investors, made a muted trading debut on Tuesday with its shares ending the first day with a loss.
Shares of the company listed at Rs 326.06 on the BSE, up approximately 1.5% compared with the initial public offering price of Rs 321 apiece. The shares traded between a high of Rs 332.90 and a low of Rs 300.00 before ending the day at Rs 302.50 apiece, marking a loss of 5.7% from the IPO price. The BSE Sensex closed down 0.19%.
The closing price gives Ather a market valuation of Rs 11,266.90 crore (about $1.33 billion at current foreign exchange rates). Ather rival Ola Electric fell 2.44% to close at Rs 48.04 apiece, giving it a market capitalisation of Rs 21,189.63 crore. Ola Electric went public in August but since fallen about 37% below its IPO price.
Ather and Ola Electric compete with legacy players such as TVS Motor and Bajaj Auto as well as several electric two-wheeler companies.
Ather's weak debut comes after the company’s Rs 2,980 crore ($353 million) IPO was covered only 1.43 times last week as stock market volatility sapped investor interest. Ahead of the IPO, the company raised Rs 1,340 crore from anchor investors including the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Singapore state investment firm Temasek.
The IPO comprised a sale of new shares by the company to raise Rs 2,626 crore and an offer of sale by the investors. The company will use the fresh proceeds to build its third factory and for research and development.
The Bengaluru-based startup had filed preliminary documents for its IPO in September last year and received approval from the capital markets regulator SEBI in December.
The company counts motorcycle maker Hero MotoCorp as its largest shareholder. Hero MotoCorp did not sell its shares in the IPO. Its other investors including New York-based Tiger Global, Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC and India’s quasi-sovereign wealth fund National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) sold part of their stake in the IPO.
Ather initially planned to raise about Rs 3,100 crore via a fresh issuance of shares but trimmed the size later. It also cut by nearly half the offer-for-sale portion to 11 million shares, with Tiger Global, GIC and NIIF all reducing the number of shares they sold. 3State Ventures, led by Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal, withdrew its offer to sell shares.
Founded in 2013 by Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain, both IIT Madras alumni, Ather entered the unicorn club in August 2024 after raising $71 million (Rs 596 crore then) from NIIF, valuing the company at about $1.3 billion.
Previously, in May 2024, Ather raised $35 million through a mix of debt and equity. In December 2023, it secured $108 million from Hero MotoCorp and GIC. Hero MotoCorp, already the largest shareholder, increased its stake by 3 percentage points with an additional investment of $16.9 million.
