Bengaluru’s electric scooter darling, Ather Energy, flung open the gates to its much-hyped initial public offering today, April 28, 2025, aiming to rake in a hefty Rs 2,981 crore. The streets of India’s financial markets are buzzing as investors—big and small—eye the chance to grab a piece of this homegrown EV maker. It’s the first mainboard IPO of the fiscal year, breaking a two-month drought, and the stakes couldn’t be higher for a company riding the electric vehicle wave.
The offer, a mix of fresh shares and an offer-for-sale, has a price band set between Rs 304 and Rs 321 per share. Retail investors need to pony up for at least 46 shares, which means a minimum investment of about Rs 13,984, though bidding at the cutoff price of Rs 14,766 is the smarter play to dodge oversubscription risks. The fresh issue, worth Rs 2,626 crore, will fuel Ather’s big plans: a new factory in Maharashtra, debt repayment, beefed-up R&D, and a marketing blitz to keep its scooters zipping ahead of the pack. The offer-for-sale, pegged at Rs 354.76 crore, sees promoters and early backers like Tarun Mehta, Swapnil Jain, Tiger Global, and Hero MotoCorp offloading 1.11 crore shares.
Ather’s no small fry. Founded in 2013 by IIT Madras grads, it’s carved out a niche in India’s cutthroat two-wheeler market with its premium electric scooters—the Ather 450 series and the family-friendly Rizta, launched last April. Its Hosur factory in Tamil Nadu can churn out 420,000 scooters and 379,800 battery packs a year, and the company’s not shy about its tech chops. Touchscreen dashboards, Alexa voice commands, and a fast-charging network called Ather Grid have made it a standout. In 2024, Ather sold over 100,000 vehicles, holding an 11.5% share of India’s electric two-wheeler market.
The IPO’s structure is clear-cut: 75% of shares are reserved for qualified institutional buyers, 15% for non-institutional investors, and 10% for retail folks. Employees get a Rs 30-per-share discount, and their portion was fully booked within hours of opening, a sign of insider confidence. Ather’s already pocketed Rs 1,340 crore from 36 anchor investors, including heavyweights like Franklin Templeton, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, and domestic mutual funds such as SBI and ICICI Prudential. The anchor book closed on April 25, with 4.17 crore shares allotted at the upper price band of Rs 321.
But it’s not all smooth riding. Ather’s financials raise eyebrows. In fiscal 2024, it posted a net loss of Rs 1,059.7 crore, up from Rs 864.5 crore the year before, despite revenues hovering around Rs 1,789 crore. For the first nine months of fiscal 2025, losses hit Rs 577.9 crore. Borrowings, as of December 31, 2024, stand at a daunting Rs 1,121 crore. The company’s banking on its new factory and cost-cutting moves—like slashing material costs by 31%—to flip the script, but profitability remains a distant checkpoint.
Subscription opened today and runs through April 30, with allotment expected on May 2. Shares are set to list on the BSE and NSE on May 6. By midday, the IPO was subscribed 0.13 times, with the retail portion at 0.68 times and the employee segment at 1.81 times. The grey market premium, a street-level gauge of investor buzz, sits at a modest Rs 3 to Rs 5, hinting at a listing price around Rs 324 to Rs 326—barely a 1% pop.
Ather’s got pedigree, with Hero MotoCorp holding a 38.19% stake and other big names like GIC and NIIF in its corner. Its R&D muscle—731 engineers and Rs 238.8 crore spent in the last nine months—keeps it ahead of the curve. Yet, supply chain risks loom large. Ather relies heavily on imported components, especially from China, and any hiccup in trade or tariffs could jolt its operations.
This is Ather’s moment to shine or stumble. The IPO’s a bet on India’s EV future, but it’s not for the faint-hearted. Investors are watching, wallets ready, as the subscription window ticks down.