Hyundai, Kia sell Rs 690 Cr Ola Electric stake with majority buyers undisclosed

Hyundai Motor and Kia Corporation have exited Ola Electric, selling their entire stake in the company for a combined Rs 690 crore via block deals on Tuesday, signaling a strategic pullback from their EV investment in India.

Hyundai offloaded its 2.47% stake worth Rs 552 crore, while Kia sold its 0.62% holding for Rs 137 crore, NSE’s bulk deal data shows. 

The exit comes over five years after the two auto giants, part of the same group, jointly invested $300 million in Ola Electric in 2019. 

Citigroup Global Markets Mauritius emerged as the key buyer in the transaction, picking up a 1.95% stake (8.61 crore shares) for Rs 435 crore. Curiously, the identities of the other buyers were not disclosed.

The stake sale comes on the heels of a weak financial performance by Ola Electric in the last quarter of FY25. The firm reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 862 crore in Q4, more than double the Rs 418 crore loss in Q4 FY24. Its operating revenue fell nearly 50% Y-oY to Rs 611 crore. For the full fiscal year, net loss widened to Rs 2,276 crore from Rs 1,584 crore in FY24.

Ola Electric’s shares dropped over 8% to close at Rs 49.61 on Wednesday, bringing its market capitalization down to Rs 21,882 crore ( $2.57 billion).

Hyundai and Kia’s exit reduces Ola Electric’s strategic partners, but Citi’s investment shows there is still some investor interest. With losses mounting after going public, the main question is whether Ola Electric can become profitable by FY26. Interestingly, more than 63% of the stakes sold by Hyundai and Kia were bought by investors whose identities have not been made public.