Moving ahead with its plans to raise funds from the capital market for its fleet acquisition programme, Indian Airlines on Thursday launched the process of appointing advisors for its IPO which is likely to be issued in the next six months.
The advisors and merchant bankers, to be selected on the basis of their bids, would have to advise the public sector carrier on the quantum of the IPO, its marketing strategy and pricing among other things, IA sources said.
They would also be required to advise the airline on the valuation of the IPO, its timing and the extent of the offering besides other related aspects in the run up to the IPO.
The merchant bankers and advisors have been asked by the IA to submit their bids by August 31, the sources said.
Instead of taking the divestment route which was initiated and abandoned by the erstwhile NDA regime, the civil aviation ministry has asked both the IA and Air-India to go in for the IPO with the prime intention of funding their major fleet acquisition programmes.
While IA has plans to acquire 43 aircraft, Air-India has proposed to buy a fleet of 50 planes, with the total cost estimated to be about Rs 40,000 crore (Rs 400 billion).