Tata Sons likely to make formal bid for national carrier Air India by end of August, 2020

The Tata Group is likely to make a formal bid for the national carrier Air India by the end of the month. According to media report, the Tata Group has already begun its due diligence and could make its bid close to the official deadline at the end of August. As of now, the company officials have not held any discussion around funding or business structure and are waiting till the due diligence is completed, the report stated.

A spokesperson of the Tata group further confirmed that there is no plan to bring in a financial partner.  A few other airlines are believed to be interested in bidding for Air India Express separately, as per the report. However, officials close to the Tata Group who are familiar with the bidding process noted that the entire airline is on the block as one entity at the moment.

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Tata group hires top legal firms and consultants ahead of bidding

The report also indicated that Tata Group has hired top legal firms and consultants to conduct the due diligence before bidding for the national carrier. Furthermore, there are speculations that the Tata Group is planning to merge its stake in AirAsia and Air India into a single entity, however, the officials from the conglomerate said that no such discussions have taken place formally, according to the media report.

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Provisional figures show Air India’s total debt at Rs. 58,351.93 crore as on March 31, 2019. The government has offered 100 per cent stake in the national carrier to potential bidders besides relaxing a substantial part of the airline's debt. The report added that bidders for the airline will have to absorb Rs. 23,286.50 crore of the total debt while the remaining will be transferred to Air India Assets Holding Ltd.

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