Jet Airways stake sale: Etihad, TPG Capital among five companies submit EoIs to acquire crisis-hit airline shares

Even as the lenders of Jet Airways on Wednesday extended the deadline for submission of initial bids for buying stake in the ailing airline to 12 April, media reports claimed that up to five firms have come forward to acquire its shares. Five companies reportedly submitted expressions of interest (EoIs) to buy stakes in Jet Airways after a lenders’ consortium led by State Bank of India (SBI) put the shares on sale as part of a rescue plan, reported The Economic Times quoting two people aware of the development. However, the names of the investors could not be confirmed the report said, but sources said the EoIs were either “non-serious” or the bidders could not explain how they would recapitalise the crisis-hit Jet Airways, said the report. [caption id=“attachment_94955” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters.[/caption] Another news report said that India’s first sovereign wealth fund and Jet Airways’ previous strategic partner Etihad were among four firms expressed interest in the debt-laden airline’s stake acquisition. Private equity firms TPG Capital as well as Indigo Partners, National Investment and Infrastructure Fund Ltd (NIIF) and Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways submitted their EoIs, said a report in Mint citing a person with direct knowledge of the matter. “The lenders are currently waiting for EoIs from Air Canada and Delta Airlines," the report said quoting the source adding the two carriers may submit their initial bids in the next two days. On Wednesday, SBI Capital Markets, which issued EoI document on 8 April, extended the deadline for submission of initial bids to 12 April. The deadline for submission of bids was to end on Wednesday. “The qualified bidders will be expected to submit their respective binding bid(s) latest by 30 April, 2019 subject to the terms set out under the bid document,” SBI Capital Markets said in a notice posted on its website. The SBI-led consortium of domestic lenders are implementing a debt resolution plan for Jet Airways, whose board approved the plan last month. “While all soft copies of the EoIs are required to submitted by the EoI due date, the hard copies may be submitted by 16 April, 2019,” the notice said. Earlier in the day, SBI Capital Markets issued a set of clarifications related to the EoI document, including that bidders in a consortium need to furnish solvency certificates individually. “Bidders are required to provide the solvency certificate … on their letterhead and certified by managing director/full time director/CEO of the bidder or a person holding an equivalent position in the bidder,” SBI Capital Markets said in a separate notice. In the case of consortium, each member has to submit solvency certificate, which is a proof of an entity’s financial stability. As part of the debt resolution plan for the full service carrier, the lenders are looking to restructure “existing facilities and infusion of funds by way of loans or acquisition/ subscription of up to 75 per cent of equity share capital of the company”. — With PTI inputs