Oyo Withdraws IPO Plans, Seeks Private Funding at 70% Lower Valuation

​​ ​ Oyo, a hospitality company, has withdrawn its draft IPO papers for the second time, originally filed in March 2023. The company is now in discussions with investors for a new funding round at a potential valuation as low as US$2.3 bn, a significant decline of over 74% from its peak valuation of US$9 bn during a 2021 funding round with Microsoft, according to multiple sources. SoftBank, Oyo's largest investor, had already lowered the company's valuation to US$2.7 bn in 2022 from an earlier US$3.4 bn, though these figures were not publicly disclosed. Oyo's initial IPO application in 2021 was returned by the stock market regulator in January 2023, prompting a revised filing for a considerably smaller IPO. The company had originally planned a US$1.2 bn (around Rs. 8430 cr.) issue, but the revised confidential filing proposed an IPO that was 40-60% smaller. The firm intends to refile for an IPO after refinancing plans (US$350-450 mn), aiming to raise through a bond issuance at an interest rate of 9-10% per annum.