Naresh Goyal’s long and eventful reign at the helm of Jet Airways has come to an end. The 69-year-old founder of one of the first private airlines in the country has been forced to step down from the company’s board and also reduce his stake as a result of an ongoing financial crisis.
In a statement, Goyal said he was stepping down in the interest of the company, “..no sacrifice is too big for me to safeguard the interest of Jet Airways and the families of the 22,000 employees.”
Goyal’s exit paves the way for the company’s lenders led by State Bank of India to bring in a new investor. SBI Chairman Rajnish Kumar told BusinessLine : “We will run the process to invite Expression of Interest. The last date for EoI will be April 9. One month’s time for conducting due diligence will be allowed. Since we have put in a lot of effort in putting together the resolution plan, all that the buyer needs to do is validation.”
