Premji Invest, Ranjan Pai's Claypond Capital mulling $125 million investment in Akasa Air

The funds will be used for expansion and payments for aircraft. The new shares will be issued by diluting the shareholding of Jhunjhunwala family and Vinay Dube, who together own 65 percent of the carrier.

Premji Invest and Claypond Capital, the family offices of Wipro’s Azim Premji and Manipal Group’s Ranjan Pai, are planning to invest Rs $125 million in India’s newest airline Akasa Air, the Economic Times has reported.

The consortium is looking to pick up a “significant” minority stake in the airline, valuing it at over $350 million. It has asked consultancy firm Alvarez & Marsal to conduct due diligence, the report cited sources as saying.

The funds will be used for the expansion and payments for aircraft. The new shares will be issued by diluting the shareholding of Jhunjhunwala family and Vinay Dube, who together own 65 percent of the carrier, the report said.

Monyecontrol couldn’t verify the report independently.

The airline, which has a market share of 4.7 percent, said early in August that it will take at least two years to turn profitable.

On August 2, Akasa Air's chief financial officer (CFO) Ankur Goel said the carrier was looking at becoming profitable over the next two years and was planning aggressive capacity addition and expansion to new destinations.

Akasa’s parent SNV Aviation posted a net loss of Rs 744 crore in FY23. The FY24 financial data of the company is expected to available in a few weeks.

The airline, which began international flights in March, ordered 150 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft in January. The planes are expected to be delivered by the summer of 2027, chief executive officer Vinay Dube told Reuters news agency in an interview.