Jet's EoI submission date extended to April 12

Lenders of the debt-ridden Jet Airways on Wednesday extended the submission deadline of "expression of interest" for stake sale in the airline to recover their dues.

As per the 'clarification to bidders' document issued by investment banking major SBI Capital Markets (SBI Cap), the last date for EoI submission has been extended from 6 p.m. on Wednesday to 6 p.m. on Friday (April 12).

While no reason for the extension was provided, industry insiders cited a "poor response" to the EoI as the main reason.

Speculation were also rife that the lenders might give more time to the airline's ex-Chairman Naresh Goyal or major equity owner Etihad Airways to participate.

Further fund infusion into the airline also hangs in balance, as the lenders will decide whether or not to pump in more capital based on their assessment of response to the EoI.

The consortium of banks have appointed SBI Caps to take out the EoI and conduct the process of their stake sale in the airline.

According to the document, the last date for submission of queries has also been extended to April 11.

"While all soft copies of the EOIs are required to submitted by the due date, the hard copies may be submitted by April 16, 2019," the document said.

The lenders have offered a stake from 31.2 to 75 per cent of the company on a fully diluted basis.

Currently, the airline owes Rs 8,000 crore to lenders, led by the SBI. On March 25, Goyal had stepped down from the board of the airline and ceded majority control to the SBI-led consortium.

The development comes a day after debt-ridden airline was served a legal notice from a section of its pilots demanding payment of salaries, due from January 1, by April 14.

Subsequently, the airline's CEO Vinay Dube said the company continues to work with lenders on the balance sheet restructuring plan and will inform the employees about the progress of the process by early next week.

--IANS

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