TBO Tek Files DRHP For IPO, To Raise INR 400 Cr Via Fresh Issue

Travel Boutique Online, or TBO Tek Ltd, has filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with the markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). The company’s initial public offering will comprise a fresh issue of shares up to INR 400 Cr and an offer-for-sale (OFS) component of 1.56 Cr equity shares.

As per the company’s draft filing, promoters Gaurav Bhatnagar, Manish Dhingra and LAP Travel, along with investors TBO Korea and Augusta TBO, will be selling their stakes via the OFS. 

TBO aims to utilise the net proceeds from the fresh issue towards growing and strengthening its platform by adding new buyers and suppliers, unidentified inorganic acquisitions, and general corporate purposes. 

Founded in 2006, TBO is a B2B travel portal which provides solutions to travel agents and tour operators. TBO offers white label solutions, hotel and flight booking APIs, dynamic packages, among others. 

The platform claims to connect over 1,47,000 buyers across over 100 countries with more than 1 Mn suppliers, as of June 30, 2023. It also claims to offer over 7,500 destinations and facilitate 33,000 bookings every day. 

As per the DRHP, TBO’s profit increased to INR 148.49 Cr in FY23 from INR 33.72 Cr in FY22. The company’s total income also jumped to INR 1,085.77 Cr in FY23 from INR 511.93 Cr in FY22.

Meanwhile, the platform clocked a total income of INR 347.88 Cr and a profit of INR 47.3 Cr in Q1 FY24.

It is pertinent to note that this is TBO’s second attempt to go public. It first filed its DRHP in December 2021 and had received the market regulator’s approval for an INR 2,100 Cr IPO. However, it did not launch the IPO.

The latest draft filing by the company comes at a time when the new-age technology IPO market is witnessing some revival after a lull.

Five new-age tech companies have gone public so far this year, though the investors’ reaction to them remained largely muted, except for ideaForge that listed at the bourses at a 94% premium to its issue price. 

Last month, Gurugram-headquartered integrated agri-drone company AITMC Ventures also filed its DRHP with the SEBI for an initial public offering (IPO) on the NSE’s SME platform, NSE Emerge.