Carnage at D-Dtreet

So the expected finally happened. And as usual, it looks like its the poor retail investor who will take the biggest hit, having come to the party last. However, that is not the purpose of this post.
My heart goes out to a most unexpected casualty, and that is Air Deccan. India's lowest cost, and the one with the biggest heart, has been dealt a body blow.
The poor guys must be wondering how much more off their timing for the IPO could have been. Not only has it been swept aside in the gale force of the market crash, it will also put at serious risk, their future plans. In a worst case scenario, it could also mean someone like Kingfisher Airlines buying in. And that my friends, would pretty much end all the fun we have been having with the air fares in the past two years. With that itching to be a monopoly Jet already pocketing Sahara, we will be back to a bunch of three players, with shares in the range of 25-30, who will happily fix the prices.

For those of you who have never actually travelled Air Deccan, or even travelled it, only to come cursing out of the experience, the inescapable fact is that no other factor is as responsible for the current low fares all round, than this Airline. In fact, ominously, the whole upturn in the economy and it's subsequent results on all other activities were practically signalled by the arrival of Air Deccan's Rs 1 for a ticket ads. People thought those were unbelievable, till you started meeting the first guys who actually travelled to share the tale, and before you knew it, a lot else was within reach.

And now, with an IPO dream in tatters, creditors barking at the door, and a promoter down to his last quarter share in the company, things couldn't get tougher fopr the airline. Of course, like all else they have done, Captain Gopinath didn't make life easier for himself by pushing his luck with the IPO valuation too, pricing it a clear 30-40% more than he shd have, I reckon. Anyway, that is the nature of the man, to push for things just a tad under impossible.

So there we are. I haven't applied for the IPO, for reasons mentioned above, but I do hope, sincerely, that this sirlibe sails through this storm safely.