Masayoshi Son's Softbank sells 2.15% stake in Indian EV maker Ola Electric via open market

Japanese investment giant SoftBank Group has reduced its holding in Ola Electric Mobility Ltd by selling a small portion of its stake through open-market transactions.

Despite the reduction, SoftBank continues to remain one of the company’s largest shareholders.

According to regulatory disclosures filed with stock exchanges, SoftBank’s investment arm, SVF II Ostrich (DE) LLC, sold nearly 9.5 crore equity shares of Ola Electric between September 3, 2025, and January 5, 2026. The cumulative sale represents about 2.15% of the company’s equity and triggered mandatory disclosure after crossing the 2% threshold prescribed under takeover regulations.

Before these transactions, SVF II Ostrich held 69.16 crore shares, representing a 15.68% stake in Ola Electric. After the sale, its holding declined to 59.7 crore shares, or a 13.53% stake. The regulatory filings did not state the reasons for the divestment.

This was not the first time SoftBank reduced its exposure to Ola Electric. Between July and September 2025, the SoftBank entity had sold a similar tranche of around 9.5 crore shares, which lowered its stake from 17.83% to 15.68%.

The latest stake reduction comes amid broader changes in Ola Electric’s shareholding. Z47, formerly known as Matrix Partners India, has fully exited its investment in the company. The venture capital firm was an early investor and had co-led a funding round in 2019 along with Tiger Global.

Regulatory filings showed that Z47 had been gradually reducing its holding since the quarter ended December 31, 2024, and held 1.93% of the company as of the first quarter of fiscal year 2026.

Around the same period, Ola Electric’s founder and CEO, Bhavish Aggarwal, sold 2.6 crore shares through a bulk deal, raising about Rs 91 crore. The company stated that the sale, representing roughly 0.6% of its equity, was carried out to repay a promoter-level loan. The shares were sold at an average price of Rs 34.99 per share.

As of September 2025, Aggarwal held a 30.02% stake in the company. Ola Electric also said that repayment of a Rs 260-crore loan would result in the release of shares that had earlier been pledged by the promoter.