Tata Sons acquires Air India for Rs.18,000-Cr; to bring 3 airlines under one wing
The Tata group has emerged as the successful bidder of the divestment process of the national carrier Air India. The Tata group's holding company, Tata Sons, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Talace Pvt Ltd, submitted a winning bid of INR 18,000 crore as the enterprise value of Air India. Consequent to the acquisition, the Tatas will own a 100% stake in Air India, a full-service airline operating in domestic and international markets, as also 100% in its subsidiary Air India Express, a low-cost carrier airline that focuses on short-haul international operations especially in the Middle East market. Tatas will also own 50% in the joint venture Air India SATS (airport services on ground and cargo handling). The Tatas will get ownership of iconic brands like Air India, Indian Airlines & the Maharajah. Air India has a fleet of 117 wide-body and narrow-body aircraft and AIXL has a fleet of 24 narrow-body aircraft. A significant number of these aircraft are owned by Air India. Tata Sons is likely to merge its existing airlines Vistara and AirAsia with Air India to create the second-largest airline in the country after Indigo. About 150 executives have been working on this project for the last 18 months.
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