Russia threatens to snap ties with EU over sanctions
MOSCOW: Russia is prepared for a split with the European Union if Europe imposes new crippling sanctions amid a dispute over the treatment of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, foreign minister Sergei Lavrov warned.
NEW DELHI/MUMBAI: EaseMyTrip is set to become the first Indian online travel firm to list on the local bourses as it prepares to launch a ₹510 crore initial public offering (IPO) by the end of March, said two people with direct knowledge of the matter.
The company will look to exploit a surge in liquidity in primary markets that has led to blockbuster demand for IPOs in recent months. It could, however, face the uphill task of convincing investors at a time when the travel industry is struggling to ride out of the adverse impact of the pandemic though news on coronavirus vaccines and a steady revival in the domestic travel industry have raised hopes of a full recovery.
There is a lot of liquidity in the market right now, and that has been driving IPO deals. Investors are keenly looking for differentiated stories, and technology companies are definitely attractive at this point of time. With vaccines coming in and given that Covid-19 cases have dropped, the travel sector, especially domestic, will eventually recover,” one of the two people cited above said, asking not to be named.
Indian online travel firms MakeMyTrip and Yatra that went public so far did so overseas.
EaseMyTrip wants to launch its IPO before March 31 as its approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) expires by then, the person said.
He said any failure to launch the share sale by March-end means it will have to revisit the entire process, including a fresh filing of its draft prospectus, which will stretch the listing plans by several months.
EaseMyTrip received the nod from Sebi for its IPO on January 30, 2020. While such approvals are usually valid for a year, the market regulator had extended the validity of approvals that were to lapse between October and March to March-end due to the pandemic.
EaseMyTrip’s co-founder Nishant Pitti declined to comment.
“The impact of covid-19 has significantly reduced travel demand in terms of consumer sentiment and their ability to travel, which has caused airlines and hotels in India and around the world to operate at significantly reduced service levels,” the company said in an earlier disclosure to Sebi.