GoFirst lenders seek bigger buy bids; Singh-Pitti consortium may offer ₹150 cr more

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.