E-Paper
Air Deccan seeks anchor capital before IPO in May
The company plans to allot shares to a handful of investors ahead of the public issue to help set a benchmark for the share price band.
Deccan Aviation Ltd, which runs India's first budget carrier, Air Deccan, has postponed its initial public offer (IPO) of shares to May from March, its founder and boss said on Friday.
The company plans to allot shares to a handful of investors ahead of the public issue to help set a benchmark for the share price band, Managing Director GR Gopinath said in a phone interview.
"We felt we did not have sufficient time to market the issue by the March 31 deadline," Gopinath said from the company's headquarters in Bangalore.
"We also need time to talk to these anchor investors, who will get a preferential allotment," he said, but declined to name them.
Air Deccan, which started operations in 2003, offers no-frills travel on 234 flights each day, covering 53 cities. It flies 11 Airbus jets and 19 ATR turboprop planes.
Gopinath said Air Deccan had already placed orders for 100 more aircraft, to be delivered over the next 90 months.
Deccan filed papers with the Indian regulator to offer up to 24.55 million shares, but Gopinath said the final issue size would be smaller if some are allotted to the anchor investors.
