No stake sale in SpiceJet, says Sun Group CFO

News of a stake sale in SpiceJet was doing the rounds. But, SL Narayanan, Group CFO of Sun Group denied any such reports and said the Marans continue to hold 48.6% in the airline. He further added that Kalanithi Maran remains the chairman of SpiceJet. Narayanan further clarified that his resignation from directorship of KAL Airways is unrelated to ownership.

Also read: Will Air India's Jaldi Jaldi scheme trigger fare war? Here is the edited transcript of the interview on CNBC-TV18. Q: We understand that the Marans are not looking to sell. We are getting some headlines from you. Is that the situation, no change in ownership for SpiceJet?
A: Unfortunately, the headline news today in one of the financial newspapers is something which seems to be a wrong surmise which has been derived from the assumption that Mr and Mrs Maran have vacated their directorship in KAL Airways Private Limited. I think nothing has changed.
The promoter group continues to hold 48.6 percent, of which almost 16 percent is held by Maran in his personal capacity. You may recall two preferential issues here; one in November last year and one in April this year when he took his holding from 38.6 percent to 48.6 percent, as allowed by the creeping acquisition guidelines of SEBI. He continues to be the chairman of SpiceJet and continues to provide strategic leadership and there is absolutely no change in anything. Q: But why would he have vacated the directorship of KAL Airways?
A: This is basically to organize his own schedule because this is an investment company which owns the shares. It’s just that he has chosen to resign from the directorship but, he continues to be the owner of that company. There is nothing that has changed except the fact that the day to day administrative responsibilities of being a director and being able to find time for board meetings. It is basically something to do with managing his own calendar better. Q: If in case there was a stake sale, say in a hypothetical situation which SpiceJet would undertake, would this be a precursor to it at all, would any sort of promoter holding need to be rejigged at the promoter level or at KAL Airways?
A: Absolutely no need to do anything of that kind. What matters is the beneficial ownership of the stake as it is clarified that between KAL Airways Private Limited and Maran, his personal capacity of 48.6 percent remains the same. Nothing has changed on the ground.
_PAGEBREAK_ Q: The other point I want to bring up is, what is the state with regards to SpiceJet raising money at this point in time because we have heard it multiple times that you all could possibly be looking at private equity etc, anything on the cards which is substantial and which you could talk about?
A: Nothing at all at this time. In fact as I have clarified several times, there has been a lot of speculative reporting, in fact almost bordering on conjecture. Nothing is happening on that front. Q: You have on your radar any likelihood of looking for strategic partners now that the law allows it?
A: That is something which is a possibility because we are an attractive investment idea for large airlines outside of India but, that doesn’t mean something is happening at this time. There is absolutely no talks, not even at an exploratory stage. Q: What are the funding requirements of SpiceJet at this point in time because there are articles indicating as early as this morning that we had domestic air traffic falling 15 percent which was the steepest decline in October? What are the dynamics like and would there be a requirement or urgent need for operational viability of SpiceJet?
A: No, there is a fleet acquisition plan which is slightly longer term and going into the future. But, there isn't anything that requires us to do anything in a hurry. We are looking at various options and at an appropriate time we would make announcements on whatever funding that comes in.