S&R Associates advice Oravel Stays on debt financing

S&R Associates advice Oravel Stays on debt financing

Oravel Stays, operator of OYO Hotel & Homes, gets India's first Term Loan B (TLB) debt financing from global institutional investors

S&R Associates have advised Oravel Stays, the operator of the Indian startup OYO Hotels & Homes, in raising $660 million in Term Loan B (TLB) debt financing from global institutional investors.

This is the first TLB debt financing involving an Indian company.

The S&R team was led by partners Divyanshu Pandey, Sanjeev Adlakha and Arpita Garg, and included associates Prerna Sachdeva and Shashwat Bhaskar.

The Oyo in-house legal team was led by its Group General Counsel Rakesh Prusti and included Abhinav Srivastava, Urvashi Pathak and Neha Koshy.

The offer was oversubscribed by 1.7 times and received commitments of close to $1 billion from leading institutional investors. The deal was upsized and increased by 10 per cent to $660 million. The interest margin rate was also lowered by 25 basis points from the Initial Pricing Guidance to LIBOR+825 basis points.

The fund would be utilized to retire its past debts, strengthen the balance sheet and other business purposes including investment in product technology.

OYO becomes the first Indian startup to be publicly rated by Moody's and Fitch, two of the leading international rating agencies. Fitch and Moody's rated OYO's senior secured loan B and B3 (stable outlook), respectively, on the back of the company's sound business model and resilient financial profile with significant potential upside.

Abhishek Gupta, Group Chief Financial Officer, OYO, said, "We are delighted by the response to OYO's maiden TLB capital raise that was oversubscribed by leading global institutional investors. We are thankful for the trust that they have placed in OYO's mission of creating value for owners and operators of hotels and homes across the globe. This is a testament to the strength and success of OYO's products at scale, our strong fundamentals and our high-value potential. OYO is well-capitalized and on the path of achieving profitability. Our two largest markets have demonstrated profitability at the slightest signs of industry recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic."

Dr W. Steve Albrecht, a member of OYO's Board of Directors and Chairman of the Audit Committee, commented, "As a part of OYO's board, it's heartening for me to see the strong interest from the investor community in the company, leading OYO to become the first Indian startup to be independently assessed by the world's leading credit rating agencies – Moody's and Fitch. Today, OYO has 100K+ partners globally who are running successful businesses by utilizing OYO's proprietary technology, products, and revenue management capabilities for delivering trusted accommodations for guests."

JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank, and Mizuho Securities served as the lead arrangers for this financing.

OYO offers a suite of technology products that drive an immediate and sustained increase in revenue and profits from operational efficiencies for its partners in India and across the world. These products include CO-OYO, OYO OS, OYO YO!, OYO Tariff Manager, OYO Secure, OYO Wizard, and the consumer-facing OYO App, among others.

With over 91 million downloads, the OYO App is among the top 3 travel apps (Q1 2021) globally. OYO OS is used by over 96 per cent of partners and property staff across the globe for check-ins and everyday operations.

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