New journey

Mumbai, Feb. 3: Jet Airways has emerged from the last air-pocket before its initial public offer with the company securing the long-awaited Sebi clearance this evening.

The offer will be launched any time within the next three months. What helped the regulator come to a decision was the speed with which the airline responded to questions about its finances and business. ?You?ll hear from us within a week,? said a merchant banker involved in the filing of Jet?s red-herring prospectus.

Last month, Sebi chairman G. N. Bajpai said vetting the offer was taking more time than usual because his colleagues at the regulator were coming to terms with the nitty-gritty of the first-ever flotation by an Indian airline.

?We have forwarded our final observations to the airline and they have to come out with the maiden share issue within three months,? a Sebi official said today.

The Naresh Goyal-promoted airline is to put 20 per cent of its equity on the block in a flotation where the issue price will be discovered through a book-building process.

The offer will be for 1.72 crore shares of Rs 10 each. Of this, there will be fresh issue of 1.42 crore shares while 30.21 lakh shares ? equal to a 4.2 per cent stake ? will be sold by Tail Winds, one of Jet?s promoters based in the Isle of Man.

Sixty per cent of the issue will go to institutions, 15 per cent to high net worth individuals and 25 per cent to small investors. According to the prospectus filed with the regulator, the purpose of the IPO is to leverage the benefits of listing, including better brand visibility and easier financing. It will also repay loans from IFC and IDFC.

The lead managers to the issue are Deutsche Equities India Pvt Limited, HSBC Securities and Capital Markets (India) Pvt Ltd, UBS Securities India Pvt Ltd, Citigroup Global Markets India Pvt Ltd, DSP Merrill Lynch Ltd and Kotak Mahindra Capital Company.