Mumbai: The Naresh Goyal-promoted Jet Airways paid Rs400 crore to Air Sahara promoters, closing the deal for takeover of the ailing carrier Air Sahara.

Jet has paid Rs400 crore, which it was required to pay by April 20 - the deadline set by the arbitration panel - to the promoters of Air Sahara. This marks the closure of the deal, company sources said.

Under the revised offer, approved by arbitrators, all shares of Air Sahara will be transferred to Jet for Rs1,450 crore, which includes the Rs500 crore Jet paid last year.

Jet was asked to pay Rs400 crore on or before April 20 and another Rs550 crore in four interest-free equal annual instalments starting March 2008.

There is, however, confusion over the actual deal size with Air Sahara president Alok Sharma maintaining that the enterprise value was "close to Rs2,000 crore.

Jet officials, meanwhile, have started entering the offices of Air Sahara as part of the amalgamation process, the sources said.

The deal followed nine months of bitter legal battle and the grounded Jet-Sahara deal finally took off earlier this month as Jet agreed to buy the Lucknow-based airline at a "lump sum price" of Rs1,450 crore.

Jet chief Goyal described the deal as a ''win-win'' for both parties. The deal, he said, was "40 per cent cheaper than the one (Rs2,300 crore deal) signed last year". The three-member arbitration panel had approved the revised offer.

>

>

>

>