Hero MotoCorp increases stake to 34.58 per cent in Ather Energy

The countries leading two-wheeler manufacturer, Hero MotoCorp announced on Friday that it has invested Rs 84 crore (US$ 11 million) into Ather Energy, an Indian electric vehicle (EV) company, thus taking its shareholding in the company up to 34.58 per cent.

Hero MotoCorp has been a part of Ather’s growth story since 2016 when it had first invested as a part of Series B funding. Prior to this investment, the shareholding of Hero MotoCorp in Ather Energy stood at 31.27 per cent.

Bangalore-based electric smart scooter maker, Ather Energy, is now entering an aggressive expansion phase, under which, it aims to scale to 20 cities by the end of 2021.

To meet projected demand in the coming years, the company is opening a new manufacturing facility in Hosur (Tamil Nadu), which is designed to produce 1,00,000 units annually, scalable to half-a-million units. Furthermore, it has also set up Ather Grid fast charging points across the country to make public charging easy and accessible to all EV owners. The investment by Hero MotoCorp will aid the company in these expansion plans.

Commenting on the investment, Rajat Bhargava, Head of emerging mobility business unit (EMBU), global business & strategy at Hero MotoCorp stated that the company sees immense potential for Ather Energy to expand its market even further.

At 2 pm on Friday, the stock of Hero MotoCorp was trading at Rs 2,744, lower by 1.13 per cent or Rs 31.50 per share on BSE, against 0.42 per cent decline in the benchmark index. Its 52-week high is recorded at Rs 3,021.15 and the 52-week low is Rs 1,475 on BSE.