Temasek charges up Mahindra’s EV arm with $145 mn funding

Singapore government-owned global investment firm Temasek is investing $145 million in Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd’s (M&M’s) electric vehicle arm, the leading farm equipment maker said on Thursday.

Temasek will buy ₹1,200 crore ($145 million) compulsorily convertible preference shares at a valuation of up to ₹80,580 crore for an up to 2.97% stake in Mahindra Electric Automobile Ltd (MEAL), the company told the exchanges.

“We are extremely delighted to have Temasek as a partner in our electric SUV (sport-utility vehicle) journey. Temasek’s investment is a step forward, as we execute our strategy towards future leadership in electric SUVs. The valuation of up to $9.8 billion is testimony to Mahindra’s EV business and the progress we have made in the journey towards scaling up the electric SUV portfolio,” Anish Shah, managing director and chief executive officer (CEO) at M&M, said.

Temasek will join British International Investments (BII) as an investor in MEAL, M&M said, adding that with this investment, MEAL’s valuation will jump by 15% from about ₹70,070 crore to about ₹80,580 crore.

“The breadth of global experience of these marquee investors will be valuable for MEAL and the amount invested is consistent with the Mahindra Group’s plan to minimize dilution, it added.

Rajesh Jejurikar, executive director and CEO of the auto and farm verticals at M&M, said, “We demonstrated Mahindra’s ambition to build a desirable global brand with the reveal of our born EV portfolio based on the INGLO platform in August 2022 in the UK, which is on track for execution. By having Temasek as an investor, we have strengthened our global strategic partnerships and are targeting up to 30% of Mahindra SUVs sales from electric vehicles by 2030.”