Ola Electric is down 3% in early trade. This is after SoftBank Group, a Japanese investment firm, slashed its shareholding in Ola Electric Mobility to 15.68% from 17.83%. The company sold a 2.15% stake over two months.
SoftBank is the second-largest shareholder in Ola Electric after founder Bhavish Aggarwal. The investment firm sold a total of 94.9 million shares in a series of transactions from July 15 to September 02. However, it did not disclose the sale price.
Why are investors exiting Ola?
Ola Electric debuted in the secondary markets in August 2024. The stock price saw a significant uptick in recent sessions with high trading volumes. Ola Electric’s share price closed more than 10% higher in two of the previous four trading days.
Other notable investors, such as Tiger Global Management, Alpha Wave Ventures, and Z47 (previously known as Matrix Partners India), have recently reduced their stakes in Ola Electric.
Z47 divested with under a 1% ownership, making as much as Rs 187 crore, while Tiger Global’s Internet Fund II decreased its share to 3.24% by the end of June, down from 3.45%.
The wave of selling also reached strategic investors. In June, Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Corporation sold a total of 135 million shares, generating Rs 552 crore and Rs 137 crore, respectively.
Ola Electric received a major boost last month after achieving compliance certification under the government’s Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for its Gen 3 electric scooters. This allows the company to tap into incentives varying from 13–18% of the sales value of qualifying scooters, which could alleviate its financial challenges in the upcoming quarters.
Ola Electric Q1 results
Ola Electric reported an operating revenue of Rs 828 crore, falling 50% YoY compared to the same period last year, while its net losses widened to Rs 428 crore.
Ola Electric stock performance
In the last five trading sessions, Ola Electric has risen 13.5%. The stock has given a return of 58% in the past one month and 13% in the last six months. However, Ola Electric’s share price has wiped out 44% of investors’ wealth.