Tata group is seeking financial partners to bid for the state owned airline company Air India. As per banking sources, group is offering the financial partner a minority stake in the special purpose vehicle.The Tata group, which has emerged as a serious bidder for Air India, is seeking financial partners to join in their bid for the airline.
The government has fixed the August 31 as last date for submitting the expression of interest for Air India.
As per the sources, private equity funds and US-based funds are keen to partner with the Tatas for their experience in running Vistara and Air Asia India and their ethical track record.
Tata Group is gettinv various offers and will choose the most appropriate one. A final decision will be taken before the EoIs are submitted.
The reason why Tata Sons wants a financial partner is the unexpected outflow of funds from the group to pay Tata Teleservices AGR which has to be given to the government of India following Supreme Court verdict.
Though the group has the financial muscle to invest on its own in Air India, a financial partner with global experience will come in handy, said a source in the group.
Besides, Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines invested an additional sum of Rs 500 crore in Tata-SIA Airlines, the operator of Vistara, in April this year.
The financial partners have indicated that Air India may not receive aggressive bids due to the fall in valuation of airlines all over the world due to the pandemic. Since the pandemic has hit the global economy, several airlines have filed for bankruptcies and other have received generous bailouts from their respective governments.
