Tata Sons to raise its stake in AirAsia India to 41.06% from 30%
Tata Sons says it is in the process of subscribing to the capital of AirAsia India that will raise its stake in the firm
Mumbai: Tata Sons Ltd will raise its stake in the newest low fare airline AirAsia India to 41.06% from the current 30%, a company spokesperson said on Friday.
AirAsia India is a joint venture in which currently AirAsia Bhd holds a 49% stake, Tata Sons 30% and Arun Bhatia of Telestra Tradeplace Pvt. Ltd the rest.
“We are in the process of subscribing to the capital of AirAsia India which will take up our stake to 41.06% from the current 30%," said the spokesperson.
Tata Sons is the promoter of major operating companies of the Tata group and holds significant shareholdings in these companies.
The spokesperson did not disclose further details.
Both Bhatia of Telestra Tradeplace and Mittu Chandilya, chief executive officer at AirAsia India, declined to comment.
On 16 June, while attending the Paris Air Show, Tony Fernandes, group chief executive officer at AirAsia Group, said the Tata Group may look to increase its stake in the Indian low-fare airline joint venture.
Details of the stake sale were not immediately available.
On 7 August, Fernandes wrote on microblogging website Twitter: “Great trip to India. Mittu (Chandilya) and team doing a great job despite the whole industry being gain at us."
AirAsia India started its operations on 12 June 2014 with an Airbus A320. In just about a year, the airline has grown to a fleet of five aircraft with 10 destinations in India, and hit the one-million-passengers-flown mark recently.
Besides AirAsia India, Tata Sons has one more investment in the Indian airline industry. TATA SIA Airlines Ltd, known by the brand name Vistara, is a joint venture between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines Ltd (SIA). While Tata Sons holds the majority stake of 51% in the company, SIA holds the remaining 49%. Vistara, a full-service airline, started flying in December 2014.
In a separate development on Thursday, Vijay Gopalan resigned as chief financial officer of AirAsia India, citing personal reasons.
Gopalan joined AirAsia India in August 2013 and was part of the start-up team.
Chandilya on Thursday said the airline’s board of directors is already in the process of identifying a suitable replacement for this critical position.
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