Dipti Gore
(Image Credits : rusbase.com)
New Delhi, Jun 30 (PTI) : In a big day for IPOs, at least three companies — low-cost carrier IndiGo, staffing firm Teamlease and e-retailer Infibeam — have lined up public offers to raise an estimated over Rs 3,000 crore from investors.
Merchant banking sources said the draft papers for all the three Initial Public Offers (IPOs) were being submitted to capital markets regulator Sebi today.
InterGlobe Enterprises, which runs the country’s biggest airline by market share under ‘IndiGo’ brand, is looking to raise Rs 2,000-2,500 crore through the IPO, sources said, while Teamlease is looking to raise Rs 450-500 crore and Infibeam about Rs 400 crore.
The spokespersons for these companies could not be immediately contacted for their comments.
Continuing its market dominance, IndiGo flew 27.69 lakh passengers in May, accounting for more than a third of the total traffic. Last month, all Indian carriers together ferried a total of 71.27 lakh passengers.
The privately-held IndiGo is one of the two domestic carriers making profit. The other profitable airline is GoAir.
Earlier this month, Sydney-based aviation think-tank ‘Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation’ (CAPA) said IndiGo is estimated to have recorded a profit of USD 150-175 million in fiscal 2015.
The low-cost model using a single type of narrow-body planes is one of the contributing factors for IndiGo’s profitability.
IndiGo was founded in 2006 by travel entrepreneur Rahul Bhatia and US Airways former chief executive Rakesh Gangwal.
After a prolonged lull, the IPO space has become very active and over 30 companies have lined up plans to raise funds totaling over Rs 20,000 crore through public offers, which also include Cafe Coffee Day, Matrix Cellular and GVK Airport.
At least 20 of these firms have already got the go-ahead from market regulator Sebi to launch their respective IPOs while draft IPO papers of five firms are currently “under process” but may be cleared soon.
Three companies — Cafe Coffee Day, Matrix Cellular and RBL Bank — approached the regulator last week itself and they are now being followed by the likes of IndiGo, Infibeam and Teamlease.
GVK Group also plans to list its airports business arm, GVK Airport Developers, and may raise an estimated Rs 3,000 crore. It has developed Mumbai and Bangalore airports.
The flurry of activity in the IPO space follows stabilising trends in the stock markets and the companies are looking to raise funds to finance their business expansion and loan repayments and meet working capital requirements.
It also comes at a time when the regulator Sebi has announced a slew of fresh reforms in the IPO space, including for halving the listing period to six days and making the application process for investors entirely cheque-free.