Last Night Of Maharaja! Tatas To Take Over Air India On Thursday, New Board To Pilot The Airline
New Delhi, Jan 26 : Tata group is all set to take control of flag carrier Air India on Thursday marking the end of long-running disinvestment process for the loss-making carrier. Official sources said that three directors of the Tata group wholly-owned subsidiary Talace Pvt Ltd would be part of the new Air India board following the transfer of shares to the business conglomerate.
As per the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), Saurabh Mahesh Agrawal, Eruch Noshir Kapadia and Nipun Aggarwal are currently directors in Talace Pvt Ltd. Sources quoted above said that Air India’s closing balance sheet as on January 20, 2022 had been provided to Tatas and the latter had raised no queries. “Everything is ready. The cash part of the deal would be transferred to the government tomorrow morning. Then the shares have to be transferred to Tatas. The current Board would meet tomorrow around 4PM and resign. The new board would take over,” said an official source.
On October 8 last year, the government had announced Talace Pvt Ltd as successful bidder to acquire 100% equity stake of the government in Air India along with its subsidiary Air India Express and the airline’s 50% stake in ground-handling firm AISATS. Tata group would transfer Rs 2,700 crore, the cash component of the deal, to the government tomorrow in the first half and take over the debt of Rs 15,300 crore. Talace had quoted an enterprise value of Rs 18,000 to acquire airline. The terms of the deal required Talace to pay Rs 2,700 crore upfront and taking over the debt of Rs 15,300 crore. The remaining debt would be taken over by the government.
They would be transferred to Air India Asset Holding Limited (AIAHL), the company created by the government for the purpose. As on August 31, 2021 Air India had a debt of Rs 61,562 crore. The transaction does not include non-core assets including land and building of Air India valued at Rs 14,718 crore.
