Hyundai Motor, Kia offload stake in EV-maker Ola Electric
Meanwhile, Citigroup Global Markets picked up 8.6 crore shares in the Bhavish Aggarwal-led company on Tuesday in an open market transaction.
South-Korean automotive major Hyundai Motor on Tuesday offloaded its stake in EV-maker Ola Electric, exiting the firm by selling shares worth Rs 552 crore in an open market transaction.
The firm, which held a 2.47% stake in Ola Electric, sold more than 10.8 crore shares at an average price of Rs 50.7 apiece, data from NSE showed. According to reports, the automotive company had picked up a minority stake in the Bengaluru-based EV company back in 2019.
Additionally, another South Korean automotive manufacturer, Kia Corporation, also sold around 2.71 crore shares of Ola Electric in an open market transaction on the same day at an average price of Rs 50.55 per share, valuing the deal at Rs 137.3 crore.
Amidst these transactions, Citigroup Global Markets has picked up 8.6 crore shares at Rs 50.55 apiece in Ola Electric.
Shares of the Bhavish Aggarwal-led company closed at Rs 49.33 per share on Tuesday. It pared some losses and opened at Rs 53 apiece on Wednesday on BSE.
These transactions comes almost a week after Ola Electric saw its losses widen 2X to Rs 870 crore in the three months ending March 31 compared to Rs 416 crore in the year-ago period.
Meanwhile, the company also reported a 62% fall in operating revenue to Rs 611 crore compared to Rs 1,598 crore in the previous year as demand for its electric two-wheelers declined during the period amidst intense competition in the segment from legacy players like TVS Motor and Bajaj Auto.
For context, in May, Ola Electric saw its market share slip by almost half, reporting sales of 18,500 units compared to 37,388 units in the year-ago period.
Slimming market share and regulatory troubles at the firm has heavily weighed in on the company’s share price since listing in August last year. Its share price has plunged about 43% year-to-date.
(Disclaimer: Shradha Sharma, Founder and CEO of YourStory, is an independent director at Ola Electric.)