Mumbai: UAE-based Etihad Airways has sent in a binding bid for Jet Airways though its details have not been disclosed before the official deadline of 6 p.m. ended on Friday. Etihad currently has 24 pc stake in the temporarily grounded Jet Airways. On its part, the UAE-based airline said that its bid was subject to certain conditions. “Etihad Airways today confirmed its interest to re-invest in a minority stake in India’s Jet Airways, subject to conditions,” the airline said in a statement.
“Etihad re-emphasises that it cannot be expected to be the sole investor, and that, amongst other requirements, additional suitable investors would need to provide the majority of Jet Airways’ required recapitalisation,” the statement added.
Lenders of Jet Airways led by the state-run State Bank of India (SBI) are currently in the process of selling the airline to recover their dues of over Rs 8,400 crore. Private equity firm TPG Capital, Indigo Partners, National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) and Etihad Airways were in the race to buy a stake in the grounded Jet Airways. Last month, Jet was forced to announce temporary suspension of all flight services as it was unable to maintain even bare minimum operations. Before temporarily suspending all its flight services, Jet had already folded up most of its operations due to grounding of around 90 pc of its fleet by lessors, as its consortium of lenders refused to extend loans to the cash-strapped airline.
The consortium of 26 lenders which now owns 51 pc in the airline, had invited expressions of interest between April 8 and 12 and had received four preliminary bids. “Sealed bid from Etihad Airways has been received and the same will be submitted to lenders for examination,” said SBI Caps, which is handling the bidding process.It further said a few unsolicited offers have also been received which the lenders may deliberate on subsequently. The lenders are offering 31.2-75 pc stake in the company on a fully diluted basis. Currently, the airline owes Rs 8,000 crore to the lenders. Shares of Jet Airways rose by nearly 3 pc Friday on hopes for the revival of the grounded carrier alive. The scrip went up by 2.85 pc to close at Rs 151.80 on the BSE. During the day, it gained 6.91 pc to Rs 157.80. In terms of traded volume, 21.26 lakh shares were traded on the exchange during the day.
