Goyal cuts Jet holding by 7.9% ahead of board meet

Wednesday meeting to finalise Etihad stake sale and CEO appointment

Jet Airways’ board will meet on Wednesday to finalise the preferential allotment of 24 per cent equity to Etihad Airways. The allotment might take place the same day, said a source in the know.

The board will also finalise the appointment of Etihad’s Chief Executive Officer James Hogan and Etihad’s chief financial officer James Rigney on its board, the source added.

Last week, the Competition Commission of India had given its green signal to the deal between the two airlines, paving the way for Etihad’s Rs 2,060-crore investment in the Indian airline.

On Monday, Jet Airways’ promoter Naresh Goyal sold the 7.89 per cent stake he was holding through Tail Winds, a promoter entity of Jet Airways, worth Rs 211 crore. The stake sale of 6.8 million shares, which represent the entire stake of Tail Winds Ltd, was carried out in a series of bulk deals and the equity was purchased by several Indian and foreign institutional investors.

A Jet spokesperson did not respond to an SMS query on the issue.

Goyal still owns 67.1 per cent of shares in the airline.

Among those who picked up Tail Winds’ stake include Merrill Lynch Capital Markets, which purchased 2.9 million shares and Deutsche Securities Mauritius Limited which bought 1.26 million shares.

“Etihad Airways is being treated as a public shareholder and the airline felt there should be sufficient free float post issue of equity to Etihad, so the promoters decided to dilute their shareholding,” said an airline executive. Separately, the Securities and Exchange Board of India, asked Goyal to bring down his stake to 51 per cent in ordinary shareholders’ interest.

After allotment to Etihad, the shareholding pattern of Jet Airways will have Goyal owning 51 per cent, Etihad getting 24 per cent and balance will be public shareholding.

Shares of Jet Airways closed at Rs 310.40 apiece, down 4.39 per cent over the previous close.