IndiGo prepares for IPO worth Rs2,500 cr; date pending
28 Mar 2015
Budget carrier, IndiGo, India's biggest airline by market share, plans to launch an initial public offer (IPO) to raise Rs2,500 crore and is preparing to file a draft prospectus by May, the company said in Mumbai today.
The profit-making airline has been mulling the float since last year; and now it is in the process of appointing investment bankers. It has picked Citigroup, Kotak Investment Banking, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan Chase, UBS and Barclays as the lead managers for the listing.
The timing of the initial public offering has not been set, and will depend on market conditions.
Founded in 2006 by travel entrepreneur Rahul Bhatia and ex-US Airways chief executive Rakesh Gangwal, the airline has increased its share in India's overall domestic air travel market to 33 per cent.
IndiGo, owned by hospitality and travel company InterGlobe Enterprises, has built a profitable base helped by its low-cost model using a single type of narrow-body planes.
Rivals such as SpiceJet and Air India are losing money even as millions more Indians travel each year because of high operating costs and tough competition that has kept fares among the lowest in the world.
