Lenders led by State Bank of India (SBI) will become the largest shareholders in Jet Airways in a move to bail out the country’s second-largest domestic airline. The Naresh Goyal-led company made the disclosure to the stock exchanges on Thursday after its board approved a draft resolution plan comprising conversion of lenders’ debt into 114 million equity shares at an aggregate consideration of Rs 1, issue of fresh interim loan to the airline and changes in governance structure and board composition.
Even as the stock exchange disclosure did not give out the specifics of the proposed deal, including the amount of fund infusion to be made by the shareholders, loan amount to be converted into equity or who would hold how much in the new entity, sources indicated that Goyal’s stake would be diluted to around 22 per cent from the current 51 per cent. Foreign partner Etihad will possibly retain its shareholding at the current level of 24 per cent.
