23.03.2023 - 03:04 UTC
SpiceJet (SG, Delhi International) is planning to shore up its balance sheet through fresh capital raising and will embark on an "aggressive push" to add new aircraft, Chief Executive Ajay Singh told The Financial Express.
"The process has already started, and we saw some of that in the last month. The next two quarters will see significant action to clean up the balance sheet. There will be a fresh raising of capital and aggressive push to add aircraft," he said.
Speaking during an event in New Delhi, Singh promised that the airline would have a "vastly different" balance sheet in two quarters. In February, it issued new equity shares worth USD29.5 million to Carlyle Aviation Partners to restructure its debt to the lessor, estimated at around USD100 million. Carlyle, which was SpiceJet's largest lessor, took a 7.5% stake in the airline following the transaction.
Singh said the transaction converted "nearly the entire debt [of Carlyle] into equity". He told CNBC TV18 that SpiceJet would look to enter into similar deals with other...
13.03.2023 - 05:45 UTC
Another lessor, Aircastle, has filed a request with India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to deregister two B737-800s leased to SpiceJet (SG, Delhi International), notifications on the authority’s website show. A spokesperson for the low-cost carrier told local media the move would not impact its operations.
The Irish wing of the Connecticut-headquartered lessor lodged the request to delist VT-SYA (msn 34799) on March 9, while Wilmington Trust SP Services (Dublin), a Wilmington Trust Corporation affiliate acting as trustee for the lessor, asked to delist VT-SZK (msn 41398) on March 6, according to the notifications.
Aircastle is the latest lessor to lodge an Irrevocable Deregistration and Export Request Authorisation (IDERA) with the civil aviation regulator seeking to remove B737s from SpiceJet’s fleet, following a spate of them last summer from Horizon Aviation, DAE Capital subsidiary AWAS, and Alterna Capital Partners.
An IDERA can be filed when talks over outstanding debts break down between an airline and a lessor. The process of deregistration is generally allowed after the aviation regulator...
01.03.2023 - 07:08 UTC
SpiceJet (SG, Delhi International) has raised INR25.56 billion rupees (USD309 million) by hiving off its cargo business, SpiceXpress (Delhi International), into a separate unit, it announced in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange on February 27.
At a meeting that morning, SpiceJet’s board of directors “agreed to enter into a Business Transfer Agreement” with the subsidiary, SpiceXpress and Logistics Private Limited (SXPL), on a slump sale basis (i.e., for a lump sum, without values assigned to assets and liabilities), the disclosure said.
SXPL will exclusively operate the cargo business from April 1, 2023, it added.
SpiceJet also said in the statement that it had agreed to convert its debts to Carlyle Aviation Partners into new shares worth USD29.5 million, giving the Miami-based lessor a 7.5% stake in the budget carrier. The move followed speculation last week about an upcoming a debt-to-equity swap involving Carlyle.
SpiceJet will also transfer USD65.5 million worth of compulsorily converted debentures in SpiceXpress and Logistics to Carlyle, for the lessor to convert into...
27.02.2023 - 03:46 UTC
Carlyle Aviation Partners is looking to take a 5% stake in SpiceJet (SG, Delhi International) in a debt-to-equity swap along with accepting an undisclosed amount of convertible debentures in SpiceXpress (Delhi International), India's Economic Times reports.
According the ch-aviation fleets ownership module, Carlyle has at least seven B737-800s and three B737-900(ER)s currently placed with the troubled Indian LCC. The lessor is considered to be highly exposed to SpiceJet's financial problems, and the deal will see it convert outstanding lease debts into equity.
The newspaper also reports that Carlyle will take the convertible debentures with a view to converting them into equity down the track. SpiceJet's board is due to have a meeting on February 24 which will, among other things, decide on a strategy to convert leasing debts into equity. It is believed SpiceJet owes Carlyle around USD100 million dollars.
"The proposed deal is expected to close within the next ten days. The board will take a call on the matter on February, 24 and accordingly, the next...
