The Hindu Business Line : Pvt equity funds in race for Air Sahara stake

Sources said that while some entities had put in bids for a $100-million private placement, others were in talks with Sahara officials for picking up a stake in it.

"We will not be putting in a bid for the $100-million private placement as the valuation is too high. However, we are in talks for looking at the possibility of picking up a stake in the airline," a senior airline official whose company is in talks with Air Sahara told Business Line.

Sources said no date has yet been fixed for concluding the deal.

In September, Air Sahara announced that initial estimates by Ernst & Young had put the airline's enterprise value between $750 million and $1 billion.

While airline officials refused to comment today on how many entities had put in bids for a stake, sources said at least eight entities including private equity funds such as Blackstone Capital Partners and Temasek Holding India were in the race.

Besides, the Chairman and Managing Director, of Kingfisher Airlines, Mr Vijay Mallya, had told newspersons last Saturday that the airline would be bidding for Air Sahara. "We will put in an indicative offer before the deadline expires at the end of October," Mr Mallya said. However, on Monday when the deadline expired, airline officials were not available for comment on whether an indicative offer had been made.

A host of domestic airlines have shown an interest in picking up a stake in Air Sahara, including SpiceJet. However, the Chairman of Jet Airways, Mr Naresh Goyal, has denied that the airline was interested in picking up a stake in Air Sahara.

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