The resolution professional of bankrupt Jet Airways Ltd has shortlisted four potential bidders who may submit a bid proposal to acquire a stake in the crisis-hit airline under insolvency proceedings.
The bidders have signed a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) with the resolution professional, Ashish Chhawchharia.
The four lesser-known bidders who have shown interest in Jet Airways include UK-based financial advisory firm Kalrock Capital, which has submitted an expression of interest (EoI) with Murari Lal Jalan, a UAE-based entrepreneur.
Other shortlisted applicants include a consortium of the Haryana-based Flight Simulation Technique Centre Pvt. Ltd (FSTCPL), Mumbai-based Big Charter Pvt. Ltd (BCPL), and Abu Dhabi-based Imperial Capital Investments LLC (ICIL), a person privy to the development said.
The remaining two potential bidders are Canada-based entrepreneur Siva Rasiah and Kolkata-based Alpha Airways, the person cited above said, asking not to be named.
The signing of NDA will allow the shortlisted entities to do the due diligence of the cash-strappedd airline’s assets by getting access to the company’s data about its assets, vendors, employees, liabilities.
The shortlisted bidders are required to submit their respective resolution plans on or before July 11 to Chhawchharia, who leads the restructuring practice for Grant Thornton in India,
Last month, State Bank of India-led committee of creditors (CoC) and the resolution professional received expressions of interest from at least eight entities including US-based Imperial Capital.
The three comeback suitors - Hyderabad’s Turbo Aviation, employees’ consortium of Jet Airways and South American conglomerate Synergy Group – did not make the cut to the qualified potential bidders.
A year ago, Jet Airways was dragged to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) over non-repayment of dues.
On March 12, Jet’s lenders sought two more months for insolvency resolution. Subsequently, the National Company Tribunal extended the time to find a buyer for Jet by 90 days until June.
Jet was grounded on April 18, 2019 after running out of cash and failing to secure funds from investors and lenders. The carrier and its lenders have been searching for new investors ever since.
Jet owes more than Rs 8,000 crore ($1.08 billion) to banks and is facing claims of Rs 24,887 crore ($3.37 billion) from various creditors including banks, suppliers and employees. The bankruptcy tribunal has admitted claims worth Rs 14,000 crore ($1.90 billion).
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