Microsoft in talks to back pandemic bruised Indian hotel chain Oyo
Microsoft is in late-stage talks to invest in Indian budget hotel chain Oyo, according to reports, after a bruising 18 months for the business.
The backing would value the startup at around $9bn, sources said, although the investment figure is not yet known.
The deal may close as soon as Friday, one source said. The tech giant’s backing could also see Oyo shift to Microsoft’s cloud services.
It comes just two weeks after receiving $660m in debt funding from global institutional investors.
Oyo’s valuation hit a $10bn valuation back in 2019, after its founder Ritesh Agarwal purchased $2bn in shares from venture capital firms.
However, its valuation underwent a shakedown after major investor SoftBank slashed it to $3bn.
The budget hotel chain was hit hard by the pandemic and the strict travel restrictions that soon ensued.
Oyo’s growth had previously been stunted by poor relationships with hotel owners but pledged to strengthen these last year.
Soon after, however, the pandemic hit – leading the hotel chain to lay off thousands of employees globally as business slowed dramatically.
If the deal goes ahead, it will be Microsoft’s latest investment in an Indian startup following e-commerce giant Flipkart, which rallied a $37bn valuation earlier this month.