The parent company of Indian online travel platform ixigo, Le Travenues Technology, has officially changed from a private limited to a public limited company. This is the first approach forward to an IPO for the Gurugram based company, since Indian guidelines law prohibits a private company from inviting the public to subscribe to its shares at IPO.
According to reports, Le Travenues Technology plans to list itself on the stock exchange in the fourth quarter of this year at a valuation of $800 million. The company plans to present its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) to market regulators SEBI by mid-August. It has also been reported that ixigo is aiming for an IPO of between Rs 1,500 crore – Rs 1,800 crore.
The announcement arrives almost a day after the 14-year-old online travel agency appointed six independent board members, featuring Pratap Mall, former chairperson & managing director of IRCTC, Arun Seth, former Nasscom Foundation chairperson, and Rajesh Sawhney, founder of GSF Accelerator. The Board of Directors has also being comprised of Veteran Shubha Rao Mayya, ex-VP of ICICI Limited & ICICI Prudential Life, Frederic Lalonde, Founder & CEO of Hopper Inc, Rahul Pandit, MD & CEO of Hamstede Living.
In addition, the travel aggregator hired former Devyani Foods Director – Ravi Shanker Gupta as its new Chief Financial Officer. Gupta has immense experience in finance, compliance with regulations, and investor interactions.
ixigo recently secured $53 million in a pre-IPO fundraising round on July 27 backed by Singapore-based sovereign fund GIC with the involvement of other investors, including InfoEdge, WhiteOak, Bay Capital, Orios Venture Partners, Trifecta Capital, and Malabar Investments. Other important venture capital firms, such as Sequoia Capital, Elevation Capital, as well as Fosun RZ Capital, have backed the company with funding to date. Micromax, an Indian consumer electronics brand also has a significant investment in ixigo. The online travel firm has raised about $88 million in total fundraising, including the latest round.
In May 2021, the travel company also hired investment banks and consultants like Kotak Mahindra Capital, ICICI Securities, Axis Capital, as well as Nomura. According to a person familiar with the company’s IPO plans, the listing will be a mix of primary and secondary share offerings, providing a partial exit from ixigo’s current investors while also boosting additional funding.
According to the company, it connects over 230 million travelers with information and offers from over 25K online and offline partners. ixigo reports having over 37 million monthly unique users all across its apps as well as website. It presently processes over Rs 5,000 crores in annualized gross booking value (GMV).