Oyo Corp. bids goodbye to SoftBank in Latin America partnership

Less than six months after they struck a partnership in the region, the Latin American unit of Indian hotel startup Oyo Corp has called it quits to its joint venture with the SoftBank Latin America Fund, both companies have admittedly said.

Oyo's business in Latin America known as Oyo Latam on Wednesday said that it was moving to a digital-only model and that the changes would require laying off nearly its entire staff. Intrestingly, SoftBank Group has poured $75 million into Oyo in Latin America part of its more than $1 billion investment in the parent company.

Although hotels in the region can still operate under Oyo's brand, operations will now be managed directly from Oyo's home base in India.

Japan-based SoftBank has said that the decision was made jointly with Oyo due to challenges brought about by the Coronavirus pandemic and that it would no longer invest in the company in the region.

Last September, it was reported that SoftBank was taking a more direct role in the virus-hit hospitality startup through a joint venture in Latin America to manage roughly 1,000 hotels. Oyo has struggled across its markets worldwide as the Coronavirus crisis pummelled the tourism industry and had drastically cut down its workforce.