Etihad to Invest in Jet Airways at Discounted Rs 150 Per Share

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Etihad Airways has offered to invest in debt-laden Indian carrier Jet Airways Ltd at 150 rupees ($2.11) per share, along with an immediate release of $35 million after certain conditions are met, citing sources on Wednesday.

The offer comes at a staggering 49 percent discount to Jet’s closing price of 293.70 rupees on Tuesday.

Jet Airways shares tumbled after the report, falling as much as 7.5 percent to 271.75 rupees in their biggest intraday percentage loss since December 10, 2018.

Etihad Chief Executive Tony Douglas has written to State Bank of India on the restructuring plan for the airline, the report said.
Etihad, which owns 24 percent of Jet, wants exemption from the market regulator on preference pricing and open offer guidelines to invest more for the bailout, the report added.

The letter stated the current situation of Jet Airways is “precarious” and the airline needs emergency funding, CNBC-TV18 said.

Etihad has also insisted that Jet’s founder and Chairman Naresh Goyal must step down from the board and his stake should be slashed to 22 percent from 51 percent, according to CNBC-TV18.

Jet’s woes worsened with higher oil prices and intense competition in 2018. This would be the second time that the Middle Eastern airline has come to the debt-laden carrier’s rescue.

Jet and Etihad were not immediately available for comment.