Hyundai, Kia Motors to acquire minority stake in Ola Electric Mobility

Months after completing $300 million investment in Ola, South Korean automobile major Hyundai Motor group is set to acquire a stake in ride hailing service provider's electric vehicle arm, Ola Electric Mobility.

Earlier in March this year, Hyundai Motor group firms - Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Motors Corporation - jointly invested $300 million into Ola Electric Mobility (OEM), the independent electric vehicle business of Ola. The investment was part of a strategy to gain leadership in global mobility market, with special focus on India.

According to a filing by Competition Commission of India (CCI), South Korean automobile majors will acquire stake in Ola's parent ANI Technologies and will also get a certain minority equity stake in the electric mobility arm.

As per the filing with the antitrust watchdog, the deal will be done as an interconnected transaction to the proposed ANI investment. However, the financial transaction involved in the deal could not be ascertained.

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"As an interconnected transaction to the Proposed ANI Investment, the acquirers also propose to acquire certain minority equity stake in OEM (Ola Electric Mobility)," noted the CCI filing.  Here the acquirers refer to Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors.

OEM has already joined the list of unicorns in India, that includes names like Flipkart, Zomato, Paytm as well as its parent, Ola, after it secured a funding of over Rs 1,725 crore (about $250 million) from Japanese investing behemoth Softbank. It is also the single largest investor in Ola.

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In May, Ratan Tata, the chairman emeritus of Tata Sons, had invested an undisclosed amount in OEM as part of series A funding round. He is also an investor in Ola.

Edited by Chitranjan Kumar