Thursday, March, 28, 2024 02:28:49
Greenoaks, Sequoia and Lightspeed will partially exit from hotel chain OYO OYO, the largest hospitality company in India, has been seeking new investors in a leading Series F round. The company has witnessed a steady global expansion and now requires fund-infusion periodically. Citing reliable sources, SoftBank has been in advanced discussions in order to lead an investment of about $1.5 billion in OYO. According to the sources, the funding round will be a mixture of primary and secondary transactions which will have SoftBank buying stakes from the minority stakeholders in OYO. The ongoing transaction is supposedly nearing completion. Apparently, Lightspeed, Greenoaks Capital and Sequoia Capital will opt for partial exit from OYO and are expected to secure large multiples in secondary round. Reportedly, the latest round led by the Japanese conglomerate will value OYO at more than $10 billion. Sources mentioned that the valuation could be in the range from $10 to $11 billion and the fresh financing round will also have the participation of new investors. Ritesh Aggarwal, in 2017, voted for a clause under the Article of Association which bars SoftBank from buying more than 50% of stake in the company. Whether SoftBank’s intends to cross the equity mark of 50% in OYO is unknown, but it is not expected to breach the Article of Associations, sources affirmed. Talks regarding the acquisition between SoftBank and minorities have seemingly been in the process since February. Despite some resistance from Lightspeed, Greenoaks and Sequoia on selling their stakes to Softbank, they eventually agreed to strike a deal. The investment will help the company globally expand, except in China, where OYO China is originally a separate entity that has been seeking plans for independent fundraising. OYO needed the funding round to continue with its global market momentum and seeking new backers for leading more than a billion dollars’ worth financing round was taking much longer. Thus, the company later agreed to SoftBank’s offer, which was mixture of secondary and primary acquisition, sources informed. Source Credit- https://entrackr.com/2019/07/exclusive-softbank-partial-stakes-sequoia-lightspeed-greenoaks-oyo/