A consortium of Indian banks led by the State Bank of India (SBI) has designed a USD900 million rescue plan for Jet Airways (JAI, Mumbai International), LiveMint has reported.
The plan includes an injection of USD450 million in fresh capital by Naresh Goyal, the airline's founder, 51% owner, and Chairman, and Etihad Airways (EY, Abu Dhabi International), which controls a 24% stake. Meanwhile, the banks would restructure the same amount in debts due by March 2019 and put in place a moratorium on all loan repayments through April 2019.
"The final plan will be put in place by the end of January and the lenders are hopeful that the resolution plan will be in force by 31 March this year," a source said. According to India's financial laws, Jet Airways has 180 days to come up with a restructuring plan after it has defaulted on its loans on January 1, 2019.
The Business Standard has further reported that the consortium also asked Goyal to step down from the carrier's board, although he might continue to hold a non-executive position. The restructuring would likely see his stake diluted below 50%. Etihad Airways, in turn, could increase its stake to 49%, while SBI would take up to a 20% stake.
Meanwhile, Flightglobal has reported that the Indian government decidedly refused to step in and help the embattled airline.
