New Delhi April 20

The Jet Airways buy-out of Air Sahara, which has been going on since January 2006, was closed today with Jet Airways transferring Rs 400 crore to Air Sahara to acquire all the shares of the latter.

A new management team led by the Chief Commercial Officer of Jet Airways, Mr Gary Kingshott, took charge at Air Sahara on Friday, soon after the Air Sahara President, Mr Alok Sharma, resigned.

Prolonged Arbitration

In a statement Jet Airways said that with the closure of the transaction, Air Sahara has become its wholly owned subsidiary. "It is the intention of Jet Airway to operate Air Sahara as a separate entity while improving the operational and financial performance of the business by leveraging the size of Jet Airways. It is also proposed to re-brand the airline as JetLite in due course," the statement adds.

After prolonged arbitration, on April 12 this year, Jet Airways agreed to purchase Air Sahara. In a statement to the BSE, Jet Airways said that it had acquired Air Sahara for Rs 1,450 crore including Rs 500 crore that had already been paid.

To close the deal, Jet Airways was to transfer Rs 400 crore to Air Sahara before the close of banking hours on Friday. The balance of Rs 550 crore is payable in four interest free annual equal instalments commencing on or before March 30, 2008.

Taken from Business Line

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