J. Sagar Associates (JSA), AZB & Partners, Khaitan & Co and Latham & Watkins have advised on the $464 million IPO of InterGlobe Aviation, the parent company of low cost airline IndiGo, marking the largest listing in India since Bharti Infratel’s $751 million offering in December 2012.
IndiGo’s IPO was six times oversubscribed as foreign investors scrambled to buy into the airliner, lured by its strong profitability in one of the world’s fastest-growing aviation markets.
JSA advised IndiGo on its listing, with a team led by partners Somasekhar Sundaresan in Mumbai and Rohitashwa Prasad in Gurgaon.
A Latham & Watkins team headed by Singapore partner Rajiv Gupta represented Citigroup, J.P. Morgan India and Morgan Stanley India as global coordinators and book runners, as well as other book runners Barclays, Kotak Mahindra Capital and UBS Securities India. Gupta was assisted by New York partner Jiyeon Lee-Lim, who provided tax advice.
AZB & Partners served as domestic counsel to the banks, while Khaitan & Co advised several other selling shareholders with a team led by partners Haigreve Khaitan and Abhimanyu Bhattacharya, executive director Sudhir Bassi and associate partner Anuj Sah. Partner Sanjay Sanghvi supported the team with direct tax-related advice.
Air travel penetration in India is still tiny at just 0.04 annual trips per capita, a fraction of the 0.3 trips taken in China. Passenger numbers, though, are up 20 percent this year as more Indians become wealthy enough to fly.
Cheaper fuel costs have also improved the outlook for budget airlines in India.
