Hindujas, AdiGro may invest up to Rs3,500 cr in Jet Airways

A meeting of representatives from the four companies in Abu Dhabi agreed to explore the creation of a consortium to own Jet Airways.

Under the plan being discussed, Etihad will retain its 24 per cent stake in the company, while SBI may take 20 per cent stake. The Hinduja Group could acquire 20-25 per cent. Adigro has already expressed willingness to bring in Rs2,500 crore worth of equity.

The meeting held at the Abu Dhabi headquarters of Etihad on Thursday, also discussed the possibility of SBI giving a Rs350-700 crore loan after an agreement is signed by all parties. The main issue remaining is to align the three divergent groups to the job of managing Jet Airways.

The proposals by Hinduja and AdiGro, however, are conditional on their carrying out due diligence of the company’s books. “The banks will have to give details on Jet airways’ assets and liabilities for them to take into account the depth of issues in the company,” say sources.

While all investors agreed on the need to resurrect the fallen Jet Airways, no one, including the new parties, wanted Naresh Goyal to be on Jet Airways’ board.

Earlier, Etihad, too, was firm on not having Goyal in the fray. Goyal held 51 per cent stake in the airline at that time.

While it wasn’t clear if Hindujas would finally invest or not, the source said that the meeting ended on a positive note.

It is also not sure the banks would put in equity worth 20 per cent and also take a haircut, which could be as high as 75 per cent. 

While the SBI-led lenders' consortium is still working on ways to revive the once-storied Jet Airways, the civil aviation ministry has already awarded the carrier's slots at various airports to other airlines on a temporary basis.