Coin Press - Moody’s lifts OYO parent Prism outlook to positive before planned IPO

Moody’s Ratings changed the outlook on OYO parent Prism from stable to positive while retaining its B2 corporate family rating ahead of a proposed public offering.

Moody's Ratings has revised the outlook on IPO-bound OYO parent Prism to 'positive' from 'stable', while reaffirming the travel tech unicorn's B2 corporate family rating.

"The positive outlook reflects our expectation that OYO (formerly Oravel Stays) will sustain stronger earnings and free cash flow generation over the next 12-18 months, supporting further deleveraging while maintaining very good liquidity," stated Sweta Patodia, a Moody's Ratings Assistant Vice President.

"The affirmation of the B2 CFR (corporate family rating) reflects OYO's leading position in the budget accommodation sector across its key operating markets, as well as the geographic diversification of its operations across India, Europe, and the US," stated Patodia, who is the lead analyst for OYO, Moody's stated.

Explaining the rationale behind ratings, Moody's stated, “We expect OYO's EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) to grow to around ₹3,000 crore ($315 million) over the next 12-18 months as the company continues to scale and add new storefronts to its platform.”

For FY26, OYO's EBITDA more than doubled to ₹2,630 crore from ₹1,080 crore in FY25.

Higher earnings and stabilising working capital outflows also enabled OYO to generate positive free cash flow in FY26 for the first time after several years of cash burn.

"We expect OYO to sustain positive free cash flow over the next one to two years, with operating cash flow covering near-term outflows, including planned capital expenditure," Moody's stated.

OYO plans to raise around ₹6,650 crore through an initial public offering (IPO), of which around ₹5,000 crore would be used to repay debt.

"If completed as planned, the offering would accelerate deleveraging and strengthen the company's credit profile. However, given uncertainty around the timing and execution of the IPO, our base-case financial forecasts do not incorporate the proceeds or the related debt repayment," Moody's stated.

OYO was founded in 2013 by Ritesh Agarwal, who currently holds a 30.52 per cent stake in the company. SVF India Holdings (Cayman) Limited, a subsidiary of SoftBank Group Corp is the largest shareholder in the company, with a 40.04 per cent stake.

X.Cheung--CPN