by Staff Correspondent
IADB : Over a competitive bid win TATA group to acquire the entire company including wholly owned subsidiary Air India Express and 50% stake in Air India SATS
Tata Group has emerged as the successful bidder of the divestment process of the national carrier Air India. The Tata Group’s holding company, Tata Sons through its wholly owned subsidiary Talace Pvt. Ltd. submitted a winning bid of Rs 18,000 Crore as the Enterprise Value of Air India.
Consequent to the acquisition, the Tatas will own 100% stake in Air India (a full-service airline operating in domestic and international markets) as also 100% in its subsidiary Air India Express (a low cost carrier airline which focusses on short haul international operations especially in the Middle East market) and 50% in the joint venture Air India SATS (airport services on ground and cargo handling). The total permanent and contractual employee
strength of Air India & AIXL is 13,500.
Commenting on the development, N. Chandrasekaran, Chairman, Tata Sons Pvt. Ltd. said, “At the Tata group, we are delighted to be declared as the winner of the bid for AIR INDIA. This is a historic moment, and it will be a rare privilege for our Group to own and
operate the country’s flag bearer airline. It will be our endeavour to build a world-class airline
which makes every Indian proud. On this occasion, I would like to pay tribute to J.R.D. Tata, pioneer of Indian aviation, whose memory we cherish.”
The Tatas will get ownership of iconic Brands like Air India, Indian Airlines & the Maharajah. Air India has a fleet of 117 wide-body and narrow body aircrafts and AIXL has a fleet of 24 narrow body aircrafts. A significant number of these aircrafts are owned by Air India.
Responding to the incident, Ajay Singh, Chairman and Managing Director, SpiceJet said that, “I congratulate the Tata Group on winning the bid for Air India and wish them all the success. It was my honour and privilege to be shortlisted for bidding for Air India. I am confident that the Tata Group will restore the glory of Air India and make all of India proud.”
“I would also like to congratulate the Government on the successful disinvestment of Air India. They ran a transparent and flexible process and gave new impetus to India’s disinvestment program. I have been an Air India fan all my life and it’s time for the Maharaja to reclaim its position as a leading airline of the world,” he said.
Air India provides a unique and attractive international footprint. More than 2/3rd of Air India’s consolidated revenues comes from international market. It is the No.1 player from India in the international market having a strong footprint across geographies like North America, Europe and Middle East with attractive slots & bilateral rights. The Air India frequent flyer
program has more than 3 million members, as reported.
