Oyo Hotels files new IPO filing after tech valuation declines

After technology valuations declined, Oyo Hotels filed fresh documents for an initial public offering in India.

The company has filed its IPO prospectus with Indian authorities, but it hasn't revealed how much it seeks, other financial details or advisers, according to an announcement in the Financial Express newspaper on Saturday. India's answer to Airbnb had been valued at $10 billion in 2019 but SoftBank Group Corp., the company's largest backer, has marked down that figure to $2.7 billion last year.

Oyo's IPO filing is Oyo's second attempt to go public after India's stock market regulator raised multiple red flags on its earlier try in late 2021. Since then, technology companies have declined as a result of rising inflation and rising interest rates, which left customers with less to spend and raised concerns of a possible recession.

The company had a valuation of $9 billion last year and updated its IPO documents in early 2022, but the goal could be about a third of the earlier target, according to Bloomberg News. Oyo's IPO valuation is expected to be finalized in a book-building process nearer to the listing.

Agarwal dropped out of college in his teens to travel around the country and founded the Gurgaon-based Oyo in 2013. He envisioned the business to be a way to standardize the hotel stay experience in a developing market like India, delivering premium linens and high-speed internet service under the banner of the brand's bright red OYO logo.

Agarwal had to pull back from certain overseas markets and cut staff during the Covid epidemic. He moved away from the asset-heavy, capital-intensive business model and turned his focus to building technology as a service.

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