Former State Bank of India (SBI) chief Arun Kumar Purwar is expected to head the debt-ridden Jet Airways after its founder and chairman Naresh Goyal along with his wife Anita quit the airline early this week, said media reports. The SBI-led consortium will have
two nominees on the board of the airline, according to the new rescue deal for Jet Airways, said a CNBC TV18 report. Purwar may be one of the two representatives while the second nominee could be from one of the private lenders like IDBI Bank, ICICI Bank or Yes Bank, that have a large exposure to Jet Airways, the report said quoting sources. On Monday, Goyal and his wife Anita stepped down from the board of the ailing airline, which would receive immediate funding of Rs 1,500 crore under a resolution plan piloted by its lenders, said a PTI report. [caption id=“attachment_5554021” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters.[/caption] Goyal would cease to be the
chairman of the full-service carrier, which has been flying for more than 25 years. After weeks of speculations and uncertainties over the future course of Jet Airways, which has grounded over 80 planes due to financial woes, the airline’s board on Monday approved a resolution plan formulated by SBI-led domestic lenders. Goyal, his wife Anita and Etihad Airways PJSC’s nominee director Kevin Knight would step down from the board. Gulf carrier Etihad holds 24 percent stake in Jet Airways. According to the filing, two nominee directors of the lenders would be inducted. Further, immediate funding of up to Rs 1,500 crore would be provided to the cash-strapped airline by “way of issue of appropriate debt instrument”, the filing said. Shares of Jet Airways continued their upward journey on Wednesday and closed over 3 percent higher after the company set an ‘ambitious’ target of flying 40 additional aircraft by the end of April. The stock closed at Rs 277.15, up 2.27 percent on the BSE. During the day, it gained 5.79 percent to Rs 286.70. At the NSE, shares went up by 3.21 percent to close at Rs 279.60. The stock has climbed 20 percent till Wednesday. Shares of Jet Airways had zoomed 15.5 percent on Monday soon after Goyal and his wife quit the airline. SBI said that it expected investors for the cash-strapped Jet Airways by the end of May and Goyal has option of increasing his stake in the beleaguered airline to beyond 25 percent in the future. As a result, the stake of promoter Goyal will come down to 25 percent from 50 percent, while Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways, which had a 24 percent stake in the carrier, came down to 12 percent. The bidding process to be initiated by lenders for sale to new investor(s), the process expected to be completed in June quarter as per the resolution plan. — With PTI inputs
Shares of Jet Airways continued their upward journey on Wednesday and closed over 3 percent higher after Jet Airways set an ‘ambitious’ target of flying 40 additional aircraft by the end of April.
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