Latin American firm is newest bidder for Jet Airways: Here are its previous suitors

South American conglomerate Synergy Group Corp has expressed an interest in acquiring a majority stake in the grounded Jet Airways, according to a Mint report.

However, it has set certain terms and conditions, two of which are a deep haircut on the part of the lenders and conversion of their debt into equity.

Synergy owns and operates several airlines in South America, including Colombian carrier Avianca Holdings, the region's second largest airline.

The company's legal advisor told the Mint newspaper the company is exploring ways to pick up a majority stake in the grounded Jet. Current regulations do not allow foreign airlines to own more than 49 percent stake even though the government has indicated that it would like relax that norm.

Following a severe cash crunch, Jet Airways suspended operations in April this year.

Since then, its lenders have been trying to sell the beleaguered airline. In order to recover dues worth Rs 8,500 crore, a consortium of 26 banks approached the National Company Law Tribunal route (NCLT).

The lenders’ efforts to get a new owner for Jet haven’t met with success so far -- the company has undergone two failed rounds of bidding, while the third round concluded on August 31 -- but not for lack of suitors.

In fact, since the airline was put through the insolvency process, several parties have bid for it, including some whose credentials, or even seriousness in wanting to run an airline, have been called into question.

Here's a list of its previous suitors:

- First in line of unexpected suitors was James Unsworth, a former British Airline service agent, who claimed to have founded a startup, Atmosphere Intercontinental. He said that his yet-to-be-operational premium airline service would connect parts of Asia, and was confident that he would be able to revive the sinking airline, if given a chance.

-Next is Ajay Harinath Singh, a resident of Mumbai and the chairman of city-based Darwin Platform Group, a company that allegedly runs businesses in information technology (IT), pharmaceuticals, power and shipping, among other sectors.

-Among the unsolicited bidders for Jet Airways is a consortium of minority investors led by a Florida-based college professor Sankaran Raghunathan, who claims to represent the airline’s minority investors and frequent flyers.

- In June this year, Jet Airways' Employees Consortium and London-based private equity firm AdiGro Partners had also evinced an interest to make a bid for a 75 percent stake in the airline via the NCLT.

- Etihad Airways PJSC, National Investment and Infrastructure Fund Ltd (NIIF) and private equity firms TPG Capital and Indigo Partners had also submitted their Expressions of Interest (EoIs) in April this year, bidding for a stake in the grounded carrier.

- Jet’s main investor Etihad Airways, along with the Hinduja Group, was in July touted as a possible contender.

- Panama-based Avantulo Group, Russian fund Treasury RA Creator and billionaire Anil Agarwal, through his family investment arm Volcan Investments, submitted EoIs earlier in August. However, Agarwal withdrew just a day after he expressed interest, calling his bid exploratory in nature. Volcan Investments owns 100 percent in Vedanta Resources, the group’s diversified metal and mining company.

- Synergy Corp submitted its bid only after the August 10 deadline.

After the third deadline for submission of EoIs, which ended on August 31, Avantulo Group, Treasury RA Creator and Synergy Group Corp are the only three bidders whose EoIs have been received by the resolution professional appointed by Jet’s lenders.

No new bidders have emerged despite an extension of the deadline for the third time after the ones on August 3 and August 10.