SpiceJet’s share sale said to lure Tata Mutual Fund among others

SpiceJet Ltd.’s $358m share sale attracted bids from several large investors including Tata Mutual Fund, people familiar with the matter said, providing a lifeline to the Indian airline that has furloughed staff and delayed tax payments. The carrier, based in Gurugram near New Delhi, also received interest from Authum Investment and Think Investments besides a slew of other institutional investors, the people said, asking not to be identified because the process is private. The qualified institutional placement was offered at an indicative price of 61.60 rupees ($0.74) per share, terms of the deal obtained by Bloomberg News showed, a discount of about 21% to Monday’s close to raise as much as 30b rupees ($358m). SpiceJet slid 11% over the next two days and closed 1.1% lower on Thursday in Mumbai. The Economic Times were among local media that reported earlier in the day that SpiceJet’s share sale was oversubscribed, drawing interest from investors such as Tata Mutual Fund and Think Investments. SpiceJet didn’t respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for Tata Mutual, which is run by Tata Asset Management, declined to comment. Representatives for Authum and Think didn’t immediately respond to emailed queries. SpiceJet didn’t respond to a request for comment. The budget airline owes payments to airports, has placed staff on leave without pay and withheld mandatory social security payments since January 2022. Auditors of SpiceJet, which has plunged to sixth in domestic market-share rankings from second three years ago, have raised concerns about tax payments. India’s aviation regulator is also increasing scrutiny on the carrier. <br/>