India’s Wadia Group hands GoFirst $272mn ahead of IPO
As it prepares for its Initial Public Offering (IPO), Go First (G8, Mumbai Int’l), formerly GoAir, has received INR20 billion rupees (USD272 million) as equity and a bridge loan from its conglomerate parent Wadia Group.
As a consequence, the indebted ultra-low-cost carrier will now not need to pursue a pre-IPO INR15 billion (USD204 million) placement of preferential shares that it had previously been discussing, anonymous sources told Fortune India.
Ahead of going public, expected in October or November 2021, Wadia Group has acquired equity of up to INR15 billion, has assured a further INR3 billion (USD41 million) in the event of an “exigency,” and has provided a loan worth another INR2 billion (USD27 million).
“The funding from the promoters is enough for it to meet its capital requirements until March 2022,” a “highly-placed source” told the business magazine.
Another insider told the newspaper BusinessLine: “The Wadias have been infusing funds into the company since March 2020 as a precursor to the IPO. The bulk of this has come in this fiscal year. These infusions have been padding to support the company during Covid.”
In addition, according to company data, GoFirst has managed to renew a working capital agreement with a consortium led by the Central Bank of India for INR28.35 billion (USD386 million), which includes a fresh loan of INR3 billion.
“GoAir has had this loan agreement for over a decade now, and it has never defaulted despite difficult times. So, it managed to get another loan,” the source told BusinessLine, adding that Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) had also been added to the consortium.
The carrier has further managed to secure INR250 million (USD3.4 million) under the government’s Emergency Credit Guarantee Line Scheme launched in May 2020 to aid Covid-hit companies, BusinessLine reported.
A final prospectus for the IPO, in which it plans to raise over INR36 billion (USD490 million), is likely to be filed by the end of September or in early October, according to the sources.
GoFirst did not immediately respond to ch-aviation’s request for comment.