Online Travel Aggregator Yatra’s India Arm Gets SEBI Nod For INR 750 Cr IPO

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has given its nod to the US-listed online travel aggregator (OTA) Yatra Online, Inc’s Indian arm Yatra Online Ltd for its INR 750 Cr initial public offering (IPO). 

Yatra Online Ltd received the final observation letter from the market regulator on November 17, nearly eight months after it filed its draft red herring prospectus. 

“Yatra Online announced that its Indian subsidiary, Yatra Online Limited…has received the final observation letter dated November 17, 2022 from SEBI in connection with the DRHP dated March 24, 2022,” the OTA said in a statement. 

The IPO will include a fresh issue of equity shares worth INR 750 Cr and an offer for sale (OFS) of 9,328,358 equity shares. 

In March, Inc42 reported that the startup will offer up to 88,96,998 equity shares via Travel Holding Cyprus Limited (THCL), a subsidiary of Yatra Online Inc. 

Yatra also said, in the statement, that the proposed IPO could be opened for subscription within 12 months from the date of issuance of SEBI’s observation letter.

With the listing, Yatra aims to gain access to Indian capital markets and expand its shareholder base. The OTA is also looking at making debut on the Indian bourses to raise capital at a high valuation and increase its visibility among equity analysts. 

Yatra India operates a traveltech platform that allows users to compare prices as well as book domestic and international air tickets. It also offers bus, rail and cab bookings as well as other ancillary services within the country. 

Yatra hosts more than 93,500 hotels on its platform across 1,400 cities and towns in the country. It claims to cater to 700 large corporate customers and more than 46,000 registered small and medium enterprise (SME) customers. 

The startup saw its loss contract to INR 70 Lakh during the quarter ended June 30, 2022, down from INR 7.3 Cr during the same period last year. Revenue from operations surged 192.9% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 89.9 Cr in the quarter under review.

The IPO Dream Amid Bear Market

The Nasdaq-listed company filed the DRHP for its Indian arm with the market regulator in March this year. 

The SEBI greenlight comes at a time when the markets are bogged down by negative investor sentiment. This has led to multiple new-age tech startups shelving or postponing their plans for an IPO. 

Startups such as PharmEasy, Droom and boAt have wound up their IPO dreams for the time being. On the other hand, the SEBI approval for companies such as OTA player ixigo will lapse in December 2022. On similar lines, fintech major MobiKwik’s approval expired last month as it skipped listing plans in lieu of direct funding from the markets. 

Not just this, even the potential US listings of BYJU’S and Pine Labs have been put on backburner owing to the market volatility and negative investor sentiment. 

Despite this, startups such as Portea, Digit Insurance, Yatra and Paymate did go ahead and file their DRHPs this year.