NEW DELHI: Merging Vistara into Air India “will not lead to any change in the competitive landscape or cause any appreciable adverse effect on competition in India”, says a joint application to the Competition Commission of India (CCI) by four entities — Tata Sons, Air India, Vistara and Singapore Airlines (SIA). Last November, Tatas and SIA had announced their plan to have one full-service carrier by March 2024 and process of seeking regulatory nods has begun.
Vistara is 51% owned by Tatas and 49% by SIA. The proposed merger of Vistara into AI will have SIA as a 25. 1% stakeholder in the merged entity and the rest will be with Tatas. SIAwill invest $250 million as soon as this integration is completed, valuing the upcoming mega AI at about $1 billion. The Southeast Asian airline says it intends to fully fund this investment with its internal cash resources, which stood at S$17. 5 billion as of September 30, 2022.
