Jet Airways-KLM deal for Dutch business fails to take off; regulatory clearance approval declined

New Delhi: Defunct Jet Airways’ proposed sale of its business in the Netherlands to KLM has been scrapped as the European country’s airport slot coordination organisation, ACNL, rejected the deal. Jet Airways was grounded in March last year after it ran out of cash for operations. The once-storied airline is undergoing insolvency resolution process and fresh Expressions of Interest (EoI) have been invited for the carrier. Under a conditional agreement entered into on 13 January, the business of the airline in the Netherlands was to be sold to Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V. The proposed resolution was subject to completion of several conditions, including statutory and regulatory clearances, both under Indian and Dutch laws, according to a regulatory filing. One of the conditions for completion of the proposed transaction was the regulatory clearance from Airport Coordination Netherlands (ACNL). [caption id=“attachment_6477781” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Reuters.[/caption] “… the approval sought has been declined by the ACNL and therefore the APA (Asset Purchase Agreement) stands null and void,” Jet Airways said in the regulatory filing on Wednesday. Currently, the affairs of Jet Airways are being managed by insolvency resolution professional Ashish Chhawchharia. The conditional sale and purchase agreement was entered into by the professional and the Dutch administrator with Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V. The intimation about ACNL declining approval was received by Chhawchharia from the Dutch administrator on May 11, as per the regulatory filing. Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V. is KLM, the flagship carrier of the Netherlands. Shares of Jet Airways declined nearly 3 percent to close at Rs 20.70 on the BSE on Thursday. On Wednesday, EoIs were invited for Jet Airways under the insolvency process. This is the fourth time that EoI has been invited for the airline. Interested parties can submit EoI by 28 May and the final list of eligible prospective resolution applicants would be given to the lenders’ committee on 10 June, as per the EoI document. “A process to invite resolution was initiated on 20 July, 2019. However, based on a decision taken by Committee of Creditors (CoC), a fourth round for inviting EoI for submission of resolution plan has been initiated,” said the document.