Lenders to Jet Airways (India) Ltd have yet again extended the deadline to receive expressions of interest from potential bidders after a South American conglomerate jumped in the fray to revive the grounded carrier.
The last date for receiving expressions of interest is now August 31, Jet Airways said in a stock-exchange filing. The deadline to submit bankruptcy resolution plans is October 14.
The initial deadline for submitting the initial offers was August 3. This was later extended to August 10.
Jet's bankruptcy resolution professional had received three expressions of interest for Jet as of August 10 — from Volcan Investments, which is billionaire Anil Agarwal’s family trust; Panama-based investor Avantulo Group, and Russian fund Treasury RA Creator.
However, Volcan withdrew a day later and Avantulo wasn’t shortlisted for the next round of bidding, leaving Treasury RA Creator as the only selected entity.
After the August 10 deadline, South America's Synergy Group Corp, which owns a majority stake in Colombian carrier Avianca Holdings, showed interest in investing in Jet.
This prompted Jet's bankruptcy resolution professional, Ashish Chhawchharia, to seek the approval of lenders led by State Bank of India to include Synergy in the race.
Jet, once India’s biggest airline, grounded all flights in April after running out of money and failing to secure fresh capital from lenders or investors. Ever since, the company and its lenders have been searching for new investors.