With Etihad Airways looking to exit the beleaguered Jet Airways, lenders are set to re-initiate talks with the Tata Group as a possible new investor in the Indian airline.
According to top sources, the lenders have already sent out feelers to the Tatas and may make a formal offer soon. “All the stakeholders and the government are keen to keep Jet Airways afloat. The lenders will reach out to multiple players, including the Tatas, as they have shown interest in acquiring Jet Airways in the recent past,” said a source.
In November, the Tata Group had said that it had held preliminary talks with Jet though no proposal was made. The talks did not progress after the Tata board advised the group to proceed with caution. Since then there have been no conversations between the Tatas and the Jet board.
Broader footprint
The Tatas already own stakes in two Indian carriers — full-service carrier Vistara (51 per cent) and budget player AirAsia India (49 per cent). A deal with Jet could help the group emerge as a strong player in the domestic aviation sector.
Etihad, which owns a 24 per cent stake in Jet, is not keen to continue with the investment. According to sources, it may offer to sell its stake at ₹150 per share to State Bank of India, the lender with the largest exposure to Jet.
The lenders have also asked Jet Airways’ current promoter group, led by Naresh Goyal, to exit the company. Following a debt-to-equity conversion, the lenders are in control of the company.
“With both Goyal and Etihad on their way out, it would perhaps makes sense for the Tatas to take a controlling share in Jet Airways. Earlier, the conversations may have not gone ahead as there was no clarity on whether Goyal would cede control to the new investor,” said a top source close to the development.
In December, Yusuf Ali MA, an Abu Dhabi-based businessman and Managing Director of Lulu Group International, had walked away from a proposal to buy a stake in Jet.
Pilots write to PM
Meanwhile, Jet Airways’ pilots have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking his intervention to save the airline.
“We fear that the airline is on the verge of collapse and this will leave thousands of people unemployed and change the dynamics of aviation as fares will increase due to a reduction in capacity and the travelling public will face major inconvenience,” the pilots’ union said in a letter to Modi.