Tata Sons In Preliminary Talks With India’s Troubled Jet Airways

Tata Sons Ltd, Indian conglomerate has said in a statement on Friday (16) that it is in preliminary discussions with India’s crisis-hit airline, Jet Airways and added that it has made no proposal to purchase a stake in the struggling carrier.

“Over the last few days, there has been growing speculation in the print and electronic media about Tata’s interest in Jet Airways. We would like to clarify that any such discussions have been preliminary and no proposal has been made”, Tata Sons said in a statement.

Jet Airways on Thursday (15) had rejected the media reports of its likely merger with Tata SIA Airlines and added that there was no such discussion in the company’s board. Tata SIA Airlines is a joint venture between Tata Group and Singapore Airlines which runs airline company Vistara.

Jet Airways deputy chief executive and chief financial officer Amit Agarwal earlier admitted that his airline company was in discussions with multi interested parties to obtain funds and the sale of six of its Boeing 777 planes along with a stake in its loyalty programme Jet Privilege.

Shares of debt-ridden Jet Airways moved up for the for the fourth straight day on Friday (16) to touch a five-month high after media reports stated that an acquisition of the crisis-hit airline by Tata was inching towards a close.

Jet Airways shares rallied over 40 per cent during the last five days. On Friday, Jet Airways shares on India’s BSE closed at Rs 346.85, a high of 8.07 per cent or Rs 25.90 against its previous close.

Chairman and promoter of the airline Naresh Goyal and his family own 51 per cent stake in the airline company, whereas Etihad Airways owns a 24 per cent stake in the firm.

Continuing its loss-making journey for the straight third quarter, Jet Airways reported Rs 1261 crore of loss for the quarter ended in September against a profit of Rs 71 crore recorded during the same period last year.