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Oyo rejigs top brass amid delay in IPO 

The timing is crucial as the company has been delaying its much awaited $1.2-billion initial public offer.

March 17, 2022 / 19:13 IST

In a major rejig, Softbank-backed Oyo has elevated Ankit Gupta to be the chief executive officer of India, transitioning existing chief executive Rohit Kapoor to the position of company's global marketing head.

Gupta had already been heading the main business of Oyo in India - Hotels and Homes and will now also look at Workspaces following this elevation.

Kapoor, on the other hand, was the CEO of Oyo India & Southeast Asia.

The Southeast Asia charge will now be given to Ankit Tandon, who has been the company's global chief business officer. He will specifically focus on Indonesia and the Middle East region as its CEO.

As the global CMO, Rohit will focus on lifting the brand persona of Oyo and increase its affinity to strategically important customer cohorts such as family and leisure travellers and corporate customers, while strengthening the value proposition for Oyo’s core audience base of small and medium businesses guests and millennials.

The timing is crucial as the company has been delaying its much awaited $1.2-billion initial public offer (IPO).

According to a Bloomberg report, it is considering to reduce the IPO valuation by half or even suspending the plans given the choppy market sentiments.


All three leaders will report to the Founder and Group CEO, Ritesh Agarwal.


"He (Rohit) has consistently demonstrated his acumen of rejuvenating and transforming every business that he has led for the company. As a product tech direct to consumer company, a strong and vibrant brand is one of the two most important factors which will define our success. We will be banking on him to uplift brand and marketing through his exceptional first-principles approach and his deep understanding of Oyo as a business operator," said Agarwal.


Stocks of loss-making internet companies have seen intense selling pressure in India and the US as investors turn cautious.

Shares of restaurant aggregator Zomato plunged to its lowest level since its blockbuster listing last year, with digital payments company Paytm, online beauty and wellness firm Nykaa and PB Fintech, an online insurance and lending platform, also coming under pressure.

Oyo filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) in September last year and has been in the process of responding to questions and clarifications sought by regulators.

However it has not been an easy sailing for the company. Last year, Moneycontrol reported that Zo Rooms, besides hotels association Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI), had filed complaints against Oyo with SEBI, asking the markets regulator not to approve the company’s IPO.

Zo Rooms, which is engaged in a court battle with Oyo over a failed merger, opposed the IPO on the grounds that it violated International Centre for Dispute Resolution regulations and alleging that the company had misrepresented facts about their litigation issue in the DRHP.

FHRAI also came out strongly against Oyo, alleging that the company have made a “misrepresentation” in its DRHP by claiming to not have any outstanding criminal proceedings against it.

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Priyanka Sahay
Priyanka Sahay
first published: Mar 17, 2022 06:12 pm

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