Go Airlines gets Sebi nod for Rs3,600-cr IPO

Budget carrier Go Airlines, which has rebranded itself as 'Go First', has received market regulator Sebi's go-ahead for an initial public offer (IPO) worth Rs3,600 crore.

The airline plans to garner up to Rs3,600 crore through sale of shares, according to the Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP). It also plans to raise up to Rs 1,500 crore by way of a pre-IPO (Initial Public Offer) placement. The carrier, which filed its preliminary papers for the IPO in May, received its observations on August 26, according to Sebi's latest update on processing status of the draft offer documents. The information was updated on August 27 and made public on Monday. In Sebi parlance, issuance of observations implies its go-ahead for the IPO. In June, Sebi had kept in abeyance the processing of Go Airlines' draft papers for the initial share sale. From the net IPO proceeds, the airline plans to utilise over Rs2,015.81 crore towards pre-payment or scheduled repayment of all or a portion of certain outstanding borrowings, according to the DRHP.

An amount of Rs279.26 crore would be for "replacement of letter of credits, which are issued to certain aircraft lessors towards securing lease rental payments and future maintenance of aircraft, with cash deposit".