Sachin Bansal, one of the co-founders of Flipkart, has sold his remaining 7.5 per cent stake in Ather Energy, an electric scooter maker. He sold a 2.2 per cent stake to two-wheeler maker Hero MotoCorp for Rs 124 crore, and the rest to Zeordha co-founder Nikhil Kamath.
This move comes after Bansal's earlier sale of part of his stake to Kamath. Bansal had initially invested around Rs 400 crore in Ather since 2014. Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal also has a 1 per cent stake in the company.
Hero MotoCorp's latest stake purchase values Ather at Rs 5,636 crore, a premium to its previous valuation. A regulatory filing by Hero MotoCorp indicated that they now hold about 40 per cent of Ather's total shareholding.
Ather Energy's turnover for fiscal 2024 is reported to be Rs 1,753 crore, slightly lower than its operating revenue for FY23. The company had incurred a net loss of Rs 864 crore in FY23. Ather is currently finalising plans to raise USD 75-90 million in primary funding, with the round likely to be led by an existing investor.
Last September, the company raised Rs 900 crore from Hero MotoCorp and GIC through a rights issue. Ather competes with Ola Electric, TVS and Bajaj in the electric scooter segment. The company recently introduced a new range of 'Rizta' scooters and announced plans to increase its annual production capacity from 150,000 to 450,000 vehicles following the launch.
