Sequoia, Lightspeed make partial exits from India’s Oyo
Sequoia Capital India and Lightspeed India Partners have made a partial exit from India-based online hospitality platform Oyo through a $2 billion round comprising primary and secondary shares. The round brings the company’s valuation to around $10 billion.
Sequoia and Lightspeed said they sold an undisclosed number of shares to Ritesh Agarwal, Oyo’s founder and CEO, to help him increase his stake in the company. Both investors will retain significant stakes. Details about the size of the buyback have not been disclosed, but Indian media have reported that Agarwal spent about $1.5 billion to increase his stake from 10% to 30%.
Support for Agarwal’s buyback comes from global investment banks, which reportedly include Japan’s Nomura Holdings and Mizuho. Agarwal’s backers will also purchase primary shares in Oyo through the special purpose vehicle that Agarwal is using for the buyback.
“As the company’s first institutional investor, Lightspeed is fortunate to have been part of Oyo's journey from a fledgling start-up in India to a transformative company in the hospitality industry globally,” said Bejul Somaia, a partner at Lightspeed India. “We remain committed to supporting Ritesh and the Oyo team as the company embarks on its next phase of growth globally.”
Oyo provides budget hotel owners with a platform to market their rooms to travelers, and also operates its own line of accommodations under the Townhouse brand. It is present in more than 800 cities across 80 countries, with over one million rooms under management including 200,000 in India, and claims to have grown its revenue four times from June 2018 to June 2019. Oyo describes China as its second home market, with operations in 280 cities under the Oyo Jiudian brand.
The company closed its $1 billion Series E round earlier this year at a valuation of around $5 billion. SoftBank Vision Fund led the round, with contributions by Southeast Asian ride-hailing app operator Grab and its Chinese counterpart Didi Chuxing. Oyo is also backed by financial investors such as Greenoaks Capital and strategic backers including Airbnb and Hero Enterprise.
More on South Asia
Latest News
Asian GPs slow implementation of ESG policies - survey
Asia-based private equity firms are assigning more dedicated resources to environment, social, and governance (ESG) programmes, but policy changes have slowed in the past 12 months, in part due to concerns raised internally and by LPs, according to a...
Singapore fintech start-up LXA gets $10m seed round
New Enterprise Associates (NEA) has led a USD 10m seed round for Singapore’s LXA, a financial technology start-up launched by a former Asia senior executive at The Blackstone Group.
India's InCred announces $60m round, claims unicorn status
Indian non-bank lender InCred Financial Services said it has received INR 5bn (USD 60m) at a valuation of at least USD 1bn from unnamed investors including “a global private equity fund.”
Insight leads $50m round for Australia's Roller
Insight Partners has led a USD 50m round for Australia’s Roller, a venue management software provider specializing in family fun parks.