In a surprise development, Etihad Airways submitted a conditional offer to reinvest in the grounded Jet Airways on Friday just before the deadline ended for putting in binding bids. While Etihad’s offer has been declared as the only qualified bid, the Abu Dhabi-based airline made it clear that it would hold only a minority stake in Jet and that its bid was conditional. Earlier in the day, State Bank of India chairman Rajnish Kumar at a press
conference to announce the financial results had said he was expecting a serious bid, apart from the two unsolicited ones which had already been submitted, thereby building up a suspense. Kumar didn’t give out Etihad’s name but the conjectures had begun on who the surprise bidder was.
