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Abu Dhabi-based businessman, and Managing Director of Lulu Group International, Yusuf Ali MA, has walked away from a proposal to buy stake in Jet Airways . About two weeks ago, Naresh Goyal met the NRI businessman with a proposal to invest in the debt-laden airlines. But the airlines might not get the much-needed stake investment from the Abu Dhabi-based Malayali businessman.
A source privy to the meeting told BusinessLine , “Goyal initially had called Ali regarding the proposal, and then, met him in Abu Dhabi. However, since Ali was not keen on investing in the airlines industry at the moment, he politely declined the proposal.”
In a written response to BusinessLine , Ali said, “Investment in the aviation sector, especially airlines, is not at all in our scheme of things as we are primarily focused on core business of retail, hospitality & MICE. We have already invested a sizeable amount in the Indian retail & hospitality sector and we will continue to do so to expand our market presence across the hugely potential Indian market.”
Ali has been instrumental with his investments in hotel chains, shopping malls and community centres in Kerala along with investments in the Cochin International Airport and Kannur International Airport.
Currently, the Abu Dhabi based airline, Etihad Airways owns 24 per cent stake in the full-service Indian carrier. It was also rumoured the Goyal had approached the airlines for increase in stake to up to 49 per cent. Whilst, the cash-strapped airlines had also requested a $350-million soft loan from its investment partner airline.
In November, there were reports that the Tata Sons was likely to invest in a stake in Jet Airways. Tatas already own stakes in full-service carrier Vistara (51 per cent) and budget player AirAsia India (49 per cent). However, after a board meeting the company clarified that any discussions with Jet Airways had been “preliminary” and “no proposal” had been made. According to sources in the know, the Tatas may have also put the talks in cold storage. This leaves Jet Airways with the option to dilute further stake to Etihad .
Jet Airways declined to comment on the same.
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