Go Airlines seeks regulator approval for $490 million India IPO

Go Airlines India Ltd., a no-frills carrier controlled by the Wadia Group, has sought approval from India’s markets regulator to raise as much as 36 billion rupees ($490 million) through an initial public offering.

The company may consider a pre-IPO share issue of as much as 15 billion rupees, the airline said in its prospectus Friday, adding the IPO size will be cut if the pre-IPO placement happens.

Go Airlines, the second biggest customer for Airbus SE, is planning to use the proceeds for repayment of debt, and dues to Indian Oil Corp. ICICI Securities Ltd., Citi and Morgan Stanley will manage the IPO. GoAir has rebranded itself as Go First, the airline said in a statement Thursday.

Go Airlines’s decision to seek to raise funds comes at a time when an overwhelming surge in coronavirus infections in India has hit the country’s air travel industry, which had just begun recovering, particularly in domestic routes. The second wave has delayed a rebound for international and domestic travel, according to India Ratings & Research Ltd., a unit of Fitch Ratings Ltd.

IndiGo, India’s biggest budget airline, decided to raise 30 billion rupees by selling shares as the second wave prolongs air travel recovery, months after saying it didn’t need money. SpiceJet Ltd., India’s second-largest carrier, deferred salaries for half of its employees.

Go Airlines asked as many as 90% of its 5,500 employees to go on an indefinite leave without pay during last year’s lockdown, people with knowledge of the matter said in April 2020.