Shares Of Hero Motocorp Surge After It Announced Plans To Invest Rs 550 Cr In EV Two-Wheeler Ather Energy

The shares of Hero Motocorp surged higher nearly one percent in early trade on Tuesday’s session after the world’s largest two-wheeler maker’s board of directors gave its green signal to invest up to Rs 550 crore in the rights issue of associate company Ather Energy.

Hero Motocorp stock was trading 0.73 percent higher at Rs 2971.45 on the NSE at 9:40 am IST.

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The two-wheeler company said in its exchange filing that it has got the board's approval to invest Rs 550 crore into electric two-wheeler maker Ather Energy, where it is an existing investor.

The investment approval came at a time when the EV two-wheeler company was looking to close a funding round before going public in 2024. According to media reports, Ather Energy is planning to launch its IPO next year.

In October 2022, Ather Energy raised $50 million in equity funding led by its existing investor Caladium Investment Pte Ltd with participation from Navam Capital-backed Herald Square Ventures. The company was valued at $700 million during its last fundraise in October and was looking to raise another round which would have given a unicorn status to the EV firm.

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Ather Energy manufactures three electric scooters - the Ather 450X, the Ather 450 Plus and Ather 450S. The Bengaluru-based firm is looking to take its annual capacity to nearly 15 lakh units from 4.2 lakh units. Ather Energy sold around 6,835 units in August, up 2% from 6,671 units a month back. 

The Hero MotoCorp stock has given a return of nearly 18.96% over the last six months, as per reports. The benchmark Nifty50 has given a return of 10.26% over the same duration.