Voting on Jet Airways' bids extended to tomorrow, say sources

Voting on the two bids submitted for Jet Airways has been extended, possibly till October 17, multiple sources told Moneycontrol.

The voting was to end by 6 pm on October 16 but has been extended after some of the lenders requested for more time.

"While initially the request was to extend the voting lines till 9 pm on October 16, others asked for a day more," a senior executive in the banking sector said.

"Some of the PSU banks have sought time till tomorrow (October 17). Their point is that they require a day more for board approval," added another executive familiar with the Jet Airways voting process.

The airline had received bids from two suitors, both consortiums, on July 21. The first consortium was of Flight Simulation Technique Centre Pvt, Big Charter Pvt, and Imperial Capital Investments LLC. Both FSTC and Big Charter are led by aviator-turned-entrepreneur Sanjay Mandavia. Imperial Capital is an investment banking and wealth management company based in Dubai.

The second bid was from the consortium of London-based financial services firm Kalrock Capital and entrepreneur Murari Lal Jalan.

All the executives Moneycontrol spoke to said that the Kalrock-Jalan consortium was ahead in the race.

One of the senior executives quoted above added that about 60 percent of the votes had come in by Friday afternoon (October 16).

The winning bid needs 66 percent of the votes.

State Bank of India is the lead lender to Jet Airways, which was grounded in April 2019. It has debts of over Rs 8,000 crore and faces total claims of close to Rs 40,000 crore.