Competition Commission Clears Air India’s Acquisition of AirAsia India
New Delhi:
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) said on Tuesday it has approved the proposed acquisition of AirAsia India Ltd’s entire stake by Air India Ltd.
The proposed combination provides for the acquisition of the entire share capital of AirAsia (India) Pvt Ltd by Air India Ltd (AIL), an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Sons Pvt Ltd (TSPL), a notice from the fair trade regulator said.
AirAsia India is a joint venture between TSPL and Air India Investment Limited (AAIL), with TSPL currently owning 83.67 percent and AAIL owning 16.33 percent.
AIL along with its wholly owned subsidiary Air India Express Limited (AIXL) is mainly engaged in providing domestic scheduled air passenger services, international scheduled air passenger services, air cargo services and charter flight services in India.
AirAsia India, which started flying in June 2014, provides scheduled air transportation of passengers, air cargo and charter flights in the country. It has no international operations.
In a tweet on Tuesday, CCI said it has approved the acquisition of its entire stake in Air Asia India by Air India, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Sons.
Full-service airline Air India and its low-cost subsidiary Air India Express were acquired last year by Talace Private Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Sons Private Ltd.
In addition, Tatas operates full-service airline Vistara in a joint venture with Singapore Airlines. Tatas acquired Air India and Air India Express in January this year. In October 2021, Tatas emerged as the winning bidder for loss-making Air India. It offered a bid of Rs 18,000 crore consisting of a cash payment of Rs 2,700 crore and the assumption of the carrier’s debt worth Rs 15,300 crore.
Deals above a certain threshold require approval from CCI, which is committed to promoting competition and curbing anti-competitive practices in the marketplace.
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