Oyo Hotels (Singapore) raises $204M term loan from SoftBank Vision Fund's UK arm: Reports

Hospitality major OYO Hotels & Homes (Singapore) has received a term loan from SoftBank. While the plan started in 2020, it has materialised in 2021. According to an Entrackr report, its filings showed that it Singapore subsidy filed a “Deed of the release of Charge” dated 6th March 2021. It outlines that charges have been released on assets of Oyo’s subsidiaries namely Oyo Hotels (Singapore) Pte Ltd, Oravel Stays (Singapore) Pte Ltd, Oyo Vacation Homes UK Limited and Oyo Vacation Homes Cayman after repayment of a loan of $430 million to SB Investment Holdings (UK) Limited.

This essentially means that Oyo has repaid a debt of $430 million to SoftBank’s UK entity. In fact, its regulatory filing showed that the company has secured a loan of $200 million from SB Investment Holdings (UK). The latter is an affiliate of SoftBank Vision Fund. It aims to enhance liquidity through the pandemic and strengthen its balance sheet. Further, BI has stated that the company aims to use a significant part of the funds towards technology and data analytics. The fresh loan facility would help the hotel brand to bolster its operations post the Covid-19 pandemic.

Recently, the company's valuation reclaimed the $9 billion mark. Hindustan Media Ventures Ltd has invested Rs 54 crore or $7.31 million into the company. Founder Ritesh Agarwal has previously said that the company is making progress in recovering from the Covid-19 fallout. It currently has about $1 billion to fund operations until an undecided IPO date.

Additional developments besides the funding

In 2015, OYO stated its acquisition of Zo Rooms but that didn't happen. Instead, they both were struck with a court battle because of indiscreet terms. According to several reports, Oyo has apparently settled the five-year-old legal battle between them. A Supreme Court-appointed arbitrator provided Zo Rooms claim relief and costs in the case. However, Zo Rooms’ claim of 7% equity in the hospitality company is still a question of agreement.

Further, on Wednesday, CCI has also directed MakeMyTrip to re-list rivals Treebo and Fab Hotels on its platforms. MakeMyTrip had stopped featuring the properties of these two websites just after it had signed an agreement with Oyo in February of 2018.