GoFirst’s lenders are urging potential buyers to increase their bids, deeming the initial offers as insufficient. The airline, which suspended operations last May due to financial difficulties, is seeking a new owner.
A consortium led by SpiceJet promoter Ajay Singh and EaseMyTrip founder Nishant Pitti (who has bid in his individual capacity through Busy Bee Airways) currently holds the highest bid of ₹1,600 crore. However, lenders said this falls short of GoFirst’s debt of ₹11,463 crore, with over ₹6,500 crore owed to financial creditors.
Sources familiar with the situation said the lenders sought “at least a couple hundred crore” on top of the initial bid. The Singh-Pitti consortium is considering raising its offer by ₹100-150 crore, another source said after a meeting held last week.
Sky One Airways, the other bidder, has not responded yet to the call for a higher bid.
The revised bids will be discussed at a committee of creditors’ meeting that is likely to be held next week. The lenders are expected to take a final call on the bids by March-end.
The lenders to GoFirst include Central Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Axis Bank, IDBI Bank, and Deutsche Bank.
The airline, owned by the Wadia group, was hit by a cash crunch following troubles in its Pratt & Whitney engines.
A query sent to Singh, SpiceJet, and Pitti remained unanswered.
The bid from SpiceJet comes amid its expansion plans. The airline had taken shareholders’ approval to raise ₹2,500 crore. It has raised ₹2,044 crore through 64 investors and received ₹1,060 crore so far. Additionally, the airline received ₹1,000 crore under the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS), with a pledge of ₹500 crore from Singh.