TBO Tek’s INR 1,551 Cr IPO To Open On May 8

B2B travel portal Travel Boutique Online or TBO Tek has set a price band of INR 875-INR 920 per equity share for its initial public offering (IPO).

The IPO will open on Wednesday (May 8) and close on Friday (May 10). The anchor investor bidding for TBO Tek’s IPO is set to open on Tuesday (May 7). 

About 75% of the IPO is reserved for qualified institutional buyers (QIBs), 15% for non-institutional investors (NIIs), and 10% for retail investors. Investors can place bids for a minimum of 16 equity shares and in multiples of that thereafter. 

TBO Tek received a go-ahead for its IPO from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) last week. The public offer comprises a fresh issue of shares of up to INR 400 Cr and an offer for sale (OFS) component of 1.25 Cr equity shares.

At the upper end of the price band, the company is expected to raise INR 1,551 Cr from its IPO.

As part of the OFS, promoters Gaurav Bhatnagar, Manish Dhingra and LAP Travel, along with investors TBO Korea and Augusta TBO, will sell a portion of their stakes.

TBO Tek’s offer includes a reservation of up to INR 3 Cr for subscription by eligible employees.

The company plans to use its net proceeds from the fresh issue towards growth and strengthening its platform by adding new buyers and suppliers, which would include INR 135 Cr towards investment in technology and data solutions. 

Besides, the travel portal plans to use INR 100 Cr towards investment in its material subsidiary, Tek Travels DMCC, for onboarding platform users through marketing and promotional activities, and hiring sales and contracting personnel for augmenting the supplier and buyers based outside India.

TBO Tek will use INR 25 Cr for investment in sales, marketing and infrastructure to support the company’s growth plans in India. It will also use INR 40 Cr for unidentified inorganic acquisitions and towards general corporate purposes.

The company has already received ‘in-principle’ approvals from the BSE and the NSE for the listing of its equity shares.

Founded in 2006, TBO Tek provides travel solutions to travel agents and tour operators. It offers white label solutions, hotel and flight booking APIs, dynamic packages, among others. The platform claims to connect over 1.59 Lakh buyers across over 100 countries with more than 1 Mn suppliers, as of December 31, 2023. 

It is pertinent to note that at least 10 tech startups are expected to get listed in 2024, including heavyweights like Swiggy (with an expected INR 8,300 Cr IPO), Ola Electric (INR 7,250 Cr IPO), and OYO. 

Besides TBO Tek, Peak XV-backed coworking space provider Awfis also received the SEBI nod to launch its IPO last week.