Wadia braves rocky IPO market, mounting losses to list Go Airlines

Nusli Wadia, the chairman of the Wadia group of companies, is gearing up for a new battle. The 77-year-old billionaire is planning to sell shares in Go Airlines (India), his low-cost carrier, just as the Indian stock market comes off record highs and after the nation's biggest IPO, by Paytm, bombed soon after its listing. Huge losses suffered by airlines worldwide due to the COVID-19 pandemic are also casting a long shadow. Yet Go Airlines (India)'s 36b rupee ($480m) IPO will launch in the second week of December -- making it only the fifth company in the group to be listed. Analysts expect the carrier, which operates 57 aircraft under the Go First name, to achieve a valuation of between 80b and 100b rupees. It plans to use funds from the sale to repay debt and pay aircraft lease rentals. In a rare interview, Wadia told Nikkei Asia he was focusing on the long term. "Our group has been in existence since 1736, which is the longest living corporate group at least in India, and our 150-year-old group firm, Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation, is the oldest company listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange," said Wadia of the group's track record. "Our airline has been profitable for the last nine years before COVID and we were contemplating an IPO even before the pandemic. Over the years, we have brought in the necessary funds in the form of equity and promoter supported facilities for the airline's growth." He said he expects investors to focus on the near-term recovery of air travel as borders reopen, as well as the longer-term prospects for the Indian travel market. Story has more.<br/>