Dubai: Qatar Airways said it’s keen to take a stake in Indian discount carrier Indigo once shares start trading following an initial public offering (IPO), after plans for a direct investment were frustrated by local regulations.
The second-biggest Gulf carrier could seek a maximum 49 per cent of Indigo — valued at $2 billion based on the IPO price — to boost its exposure to one of the world’s fastest-growing travel markets, chief executive officer Akbar Al Baker said on Sunday in an interview at the Dubai Air Show.
The sale of a 10 per cent Indigo stake in October’s IPO raised about Rs30 billion ($456 million), valuing the airline at $4.2 billion and making it the third-largest low-cost carrier in Asia, with a value five times that of Jet Airways and nine times that of SpiceJet, the other two listed Indian airlines.
“I couldn’t take a stake in Indigo because the Indian authorities have restrictions on airlines taking part in IPOs of an airline,” Al Baker said. “The process to do it would have taken a long time and they were in a hurry. If we can go up to the 49 per cent that’s allowed, we’d like to go as much as that.”
08/11/15 Bloomberg News/Times of Oman
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The second-biggest Gulf carrier could seek a maximum 49 per cent of Indigo — valued at $2 billion based on the IPO price — to boost its exposure to one of the world’s fastest-growing travel markets, chief executive officer Akbar Al Baker said on Sunday in an interview at the Dubai Air Show.
The sale of a 10 per cent Indigo stake in October’s IPO raised about Rs30 billion ($456 million), valuing the airline at $4.2 billion and making it the third-largest low-cost carrier in Asia, with a value five times that of Jet Airways and nine times that of SpiceJet, the other two listed Indian airlines.
“I couldn’t take a stake in Indigo because the Indian authorities have restrictions on airlines taking part in IPOs of an airline,” Al Baker said. “The process to do it would have taken a long time and they were in a hurry. If we can go up to the 49 per cent that’s allowed, we’d like to go as much as that.”
08/11/15 Bloomberg News/Times of Oman
