Gulf carrier Etihad, which
is tipped to acquire 24 per cent stake in Jet Airways, on Monday said it would
complete the procedures over the deal with the Indian carrier within a week and
leave it to its board to take a final view on the matter.
In his first formal
acknowledgment that the Abu Dhabi-based airline was interested in investing in
Jet after several rounds of talks between the two carriers, President and CEO,
James Hogan, said “we are undertaking due diligence” which would be completed
in a week’s time.
The findings would then be
presented to the Etihad Board for it to take a final view on the matter, he
said at a post-financial results press conference in Abu Dhabi, which was
beamed live across the world.
Etihad today reported 200
per cent jump in net profit for 2012 to USD 42 million.
Mr. Hogan said he had last
week met Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, Commerce Minister Anand Sharma and
Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh in Delhi to understand the new FDI rules and
the regulatory requirements for buying equity in the Indian airline company.
Etihad is likely to buy 24
per cent equity in Jet Airways valued at about Rs.1, 800 crore. If the deal is
carried through, it would be the first investment by a foreign carrier in an
Indian airline.
Meanwhile, a senior Jet
Airways official said in Mumbai that discussions with Etihad were still going
on and nothing has been finalised as yet.
“It is too early to talk
about all these things. The discussions are still going on. We have not
finalised anything,” Jet Vice President (Commercial Strategy and Investor
Relations) K G Vishwanath told financial analysts without directly referring to
Etihad.
The statements came days
after Jet announced a net profit of Rs. 85 crore in three months to December in
its Q3 results.
A deal with Etihad would
expand Jet’s equity base, which now stands at 8.63 crore shares valued at Rs.
5,370 crore.
Etihad has in the past two
years picked up stake in several international carriers like Virgin Australia,
Airberlin, Air Seychelles and Irish carrier Aer Lingus.
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