Etihad Airways confirms bid for Jet Airways, subject to conditions

Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways confirmed on May 10 that it is interested in reinvesting for a minority stake in Jet Airways, but has laid down certain conditions.

Etihad has been working with key stakeholders in India for the past 15 months to help find a solution which would ensure Jet's return as a viable and competitive Indian carrier.

"Etihad re-emphasises that it cannot be expected to be the sole investor, and that, amongst other requirements, additional suitable investors would need to provide the majority of Jet Airways’ required recapitalisation," the UAE-based carrier said.

As part of the process, sealed bids were to be submitted by May 10, 2019, by the qualified bidders. "Two unsolicited and one is expected," Rajnish Kumar, Chairman of SBI said in an earnings conference on May 10. However, these bids may not be considered at the moment for want of proper due diligence.

SBI Capital Markets, which has been given the mandate to oversee the stake sale process for Jet Airways, has received bids from interested parties.

The investment banking company, said on May 10, "Sealed bid from Etihad Airways PJSC has been received and the same will be submitted to lenders for examination. Few unsolicited offers have also been received which the lenders may deliberate upon subsequently."

Meanwhile, Kumar said that typically recoveries expected from accounts in the service industry are mostly nil owing to the lack of assets, and the best option is to work out anything outside of the insolvency framework.

Any bidder will have to come with considerable funding as the airline owes Rs 8,000 crore to banks and thousands of crore more to lessors, vendors and employees, who haven't been paid since March.