Zee Media Bureau
New Delhi: In a sign of relief for the troubled airline, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) Thursday approved SpiceJet's proposal deal with Ajay Singh, its original owner.
With the approval, the deal will now see a new ownership in Ajay Singh as well as a new infusion of funds into the airline.
The proposed deal had been cleared by the Civil Aviation Ministry earlier but was awaiting certain clearances, including from the Competition Commission.
Under the revival plan, the carrier's original promoter Ajay Singh would acquire majority stake and control in the airline. Besides, outgoing promoters, Maran family, would put in funds.
The SpiceJet board, in late January, had approved transfer of Maran family's entire 58.46 percent existing stake to Singh, while the company would raise Rs 1,500 crore through issuance of fresh securities.
Besides, Marans would also infuse Rs 375 crore into the budget carrier in lieu of 'non convertible preference shares' to be alloted to them despite they offloading their entire existing equity stake in favour of Singh and resigning from the board of the airline.
SpiceJet's net loss widened to Rs 275 crore in three months ended December 2014, mainly on account of lower passenger numbers and a one-time cost of Rs 295 crore.
The airline was forced to ground flights for some days during the December quarter after its vendors refused to offer credit. This resulted in the airline seeing a 31 percent decline in capacity, while revenue fell 27 percent to Rs 1,300 crore.
With PTI Inputs
