Air India is owned by Tata Group and Vistara is a 51:49 joint venture between Tatas and Singapore Airlines. (Photo: Shutterstock)
Singapore Airlines said on Friday it has received approval from the Indian government for foreign direct investment as part of the proposed merger of Vistara with Air India, a deal that will create one of the world’s largest airline groups.
With the clearance in place, the merger, which will see Singapore Airlines acquire a 25.1 per cent stake in Air India, is expected to be completed by the end of this year.
The proposed merger was announced in November 2022.
Air India is owned by Tata Group and Vistara is a 51:49 joint venture between Tatas and Singapore Airlines.
In a regulatory filing on Friday, Singapore Airlines (SIA) said it has received approval from the Government of India for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the enlarged Air India as part of the proposed merger.
“The FDI approval, together with the antitrust and merger control clearances and approvals, as well as other government and regulatory approvals received to date, represent significant progress towards the completion of the proposed merger,” the airline said in its filing to the Singapore Stock Exchange.
The airline also said that the completion of the merger remains subject to the parties’ compliance with applicable Indian laws, which is currently expected to be completed in the coming months.
“At this time, the proposed merger is anticipated to be completed by the end of 2024,” it added.
According to Singapore Airlines, the parties are negotiating an extension of the deadline for the completion of the merger. Previously, it was expected to be 31 October 2024.
The merger, which will create one of the largest airline groups, was approved by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in June.
In March, Singapore’s competition regulator CCCS gave its conditional approval to the proposed deal.
Prior to that, in September 2023, the deal received approval from the Competition Commission of India (CCI), subject to certain conditions.
“SIA will make any necessary announcements following completion of the proposed merger or in the event of other significant developments,” the filing said on Friday.
(Only the headline and image of this report may have been reworked by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
First published: August 30, 2024 | 8:04 a.m. IS
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