Oyo sets up investment vehicle

Hospitality platform Oyo and Cayman Islands-based firm RA Hospitality have filed a notification with the Competition Commission of India (CCI), according to filings accessed by business intelligence platform Paper.vc.

The CCI filing states the proposed combination relates to the acquisition of equity securities in Oravel Stays on a fully diluted basis by RA Co. The proposed combination involves a subscription to equity securities of Oyo by RA Co and the acquisition of part of the equity securities held by certain existing shareholders of Oyo. The proposed combination is in the nature of an acquisition, the filings say.

According to Paper.vc, RA hospitality is likely a joint venture firm backed by Softbank and one or more financial institutions, with Ritesh Agarwal as a key shareholder. This entity will, most likely, purchase some or all of the shares held by Sequoia Capital and Lightspeed and Greenoaks as well. In addition to that, it will also bring in more investment in Oyo.

These filings seem in tune with reports last week, which suggested that Agarwal was making an attempt to purchase buyback shares in Oyo and beef up his stake in the company.