The latter's bid is made in partnership with a group of airline
employees.
Tata
Sons has emerged as a front runner to take over 100 per cent stake in the
stressed national carrier Air India, sources involved in the sale process said
on Monday after the expression of interest (EoI) deadline ended. There were
other suitors as well including a consortium of Air India employees and
US-based fund Interups.
Along with 100 per
cent stake in the airline, the government is also selling its low-cost
subsidiary Air Indian Express.
“Multiple
expressions of interest have been received for strategic disinvestment of Air
India. The Transaction will now move to the second stage,” Department of
Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey
said, adding that he’s satisfied that the sale process has moved to the next
stage.
In 2018, the
government had failed to garner a single EoI, following which it had to shelve
the process. The disinvestment of Air India is crucial for the government to
manage its finances as the debt-laden carrier will require over Rs 500 crore
per month, according to government estimates.
Pandey, however,
did not reveal either the identity of the bidders or the number of bids
received for buying the national carrier.
A group of 209
employees of Air India has submitted an expression of interest in partnership
with Interups Inc. From the employees’ side, the bid process is being led by
Meenakshi Mallik, who is the current commercial director at Air India.
No comments:
Post a Comment