GLOBAL travel-tech unicorn OYO has arranged for five investment banks to meet its key shareholder SoftBank in June, in a crucial presentation that could determine the company's path to public listing, sources said.
The banks include Citi, Goldman Sachs and Jefferies from the global banking consortium, alongside ICICI Securities and Axis Capital representing Indian financial institutions.
SoftBank, which remains one of OYO's largest shareholders, is interested in understanding the key positioning strategies, expected valuation metrics and anticipated investor appetite for the offering.
The high-stakes meeting is scheduled to take place at SoftBank's London office on Grosvenor Street, where the banks will present their IPO strategies to SoftBank's Sumer Juneja.
OYO founder Ritesh Agarwal and his senior leadership team will also participate in the discussions, sources close to the development said.
The Japanese conglomerate's view is considered important for the IPO's timing, given its significant stake in the hospitality startup.
"SoftBank is positive about their portfolio companies such as OYO which have shown strong performance. For OYO, raising primary issuance will lead to a sharp increase in its earnings per share by using the proceeds to prepay some of its debt," said a person close to the development.
OYO is targeting a share dilution of 10 per cent in the proposed public offering, through a combination of primary and secondary components to ensure the lowest possible dilution, since the company is already generating cash, the person added.
According to sources, SoftBank has been encouraging OYO over the past few months to start working actively towards a public listing, since the company has been exceeding the agreed financial milestones such as EBITDA and gross bookings growth.
The London meeting comes as OYO has intensified its thinking about an IPO over the past month, transitioning from informal discussions to active pitch presentations with major banking institutions.
According to reports, the company is considering filing its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) between August and September this year.
The timing of the filing remains flexible, with OYO weighing whether to proceed with FY25 financial results or wait for H1 FY26 results to strengthen its market position.
Reports said that OYO is targeting an IPO launch in the last quarter of the current financial year, positioning itself to capitalise on improved market sentiment and its own operational turnaround.
The renewed IPO push comes after OYO had previously filed and refiled its draft papers with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) in 2021, seeking to raise more than £780 million through a public offering. The company withdrew those papers in 2024.
In recent times, OYO has streamlined its global operations while strengthening its presence in key markets, including India, the US, Europe and Southeast Asia.
Sources indicated that the company's improved financial metrics and operational efficiency have renewed investor confidence, prompting the fresh attempt at going public.
(PTI)
Lakshmi Mittal 
