(Reuters) -Indian e-scooter maker Ather Energy set a target price for its initial public offering (IPO) on Wednesday, according to a newspaper advertisement, valuing the company at up to $1.40 billion, about 44% less than its original target.
Ather’s nearly $350 million IPO, India’s third-largest primary share sale so far this year, comes at a time when U.S. tariff policy has roiled markets globally.
The company trimmed the size of its IPO on Tuesday, lowering the fresh share issuance by 15%. Existing investors, including founders Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain, and Singapore’s GIC and Tiger Global also slashed the number of shares they will sell by half.
The company will sell shares at the IPO in a range of 304 rupees to 321 rupees apiece.
India’s top motorcycle maker Hero MotoCorp, the largest shareholder in Ather with a stake of around 40%, will not sell shares in the IPO.
Bidding for the IPO will open for three days from April 28. So-called anchor investors will participate in a private stock placement on April 25.
Ather was one of the first companies to sell e-scooters in India in 2018, but its sales trail that of larger rivals Ola Electric, TVS Motor and Bajaj Auto.
Its valuation will be lower than larger rival Ola Electric’s, which has a market capitalisation of $2.7 billion.
Ather, whose scooters are among the costliest on offer in India’s 1.14-million-units-a-year electric two-wheeler market, is counting on its ‘Rizta’ family scooters to help narrow the gap with rivals while a newer vehicle platform is expected to reduce costs.
‘Rizta’ sales led to a narrower loss and a 28% rise in revenue for Ather in the nine months to December 2024.
($1 = 85.2370 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Nandan Mandayam and Aleef Jahan in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman and Mrigank Dhaniwala)
