New Delhi: The Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Monday approved acquisition of shareholding in national carrier Air India by Talace, a wholly-owned entity of Tata Sons.
The fair trade regulator has also approved stake acquisition by Talace in Air India Express and Air India SATS Airport Services, along with the acquisition of shares in Air India.
The CCI in a tweet said, “Commission approves acquisition of shareholding in Air India, Air India Express & Air India SATS Airport Services by Talace.”
The CCI said, “The proposed combination envisages acquisition of 100 per cent equity share capital of Air India Ltd (Air India) & Air India Express Ltd (AIXL), and 50 per cent equity share capital of Air India SATS Airport Services Pvt Ltd (AISATS) by Talace Pvt Ltd (Talace).”
Earlier on October 8, the government had announced that Talace Private Limited had won the bid to acquire the debt-laden airline. Tata had outbid a consortium led by SpiceJet promoter Ajay Singh by offering Rs 18,000 crore.
Later, on October 25, the government signed the share purchase deal with Tata Sons for the divestment of Air India.
Earlier this month, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia had said that the transfer of Air India to Tata Sons will be completed in the next 1 to 1.5 months.
According to the share purchase agreement, Rs 46,262-crore debt of the state-owned airline will be transferred to Air India Assets Holding Limited, while 15 per cent of the total debt of Rs 61,562 crore will be retained by Tatas. The government will get around Rs 2,700 crore cash from Tatas, and they will take over Rs 15,300 crore debt.