The Mumbai branch of National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Monday directed South America’s Synergy Group to make a representation before December 3 if it wanted to make a serious bid for Jet Airways. This comes after Synergy sought more time to place its bid for the Indian airline.

The Resolution Professional (RP) for Jet Airways, Ashish Chhawchharia, was directed to include Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and Ministry of Civil Aviation (MOCA) as parties to the ongoing resolution process.

During the hearing held on Monday, the RP informed the NCLT that Synergy Group with was the sole potential bidder and had asked for an extension to submit their bid. The last date to submit a final bid was November 15.

The Insolvency Bankruptcy Code (IBC) has a 180-day timeline for a company to get a resolution or liquidate the company’s assets. Jet Airways 180-day timeline ends on December 16. The Committee of Creditors (CoC) will take a call on the same on November 19.

Submission of final bid

The NCLT wanted to know whether Synergy Group was a serious bidder. The court asked the RP several times what the likelihood of a resolution was, especially since they (Synergy) had yet not put down any money.

The RP said that Synergy had reservation regarding Jet Airways’ slots as there was no clarity on the same. Since the schedule for winter slots were gone and slots for the summer season to be declared on January 15, NCLT has asked the authorities to provide clarity on slots. The RP added, “I cannot give any assurances since Synergy seems seriously interested, but they are a continent away and they have been asking questions, I have been replying, but communicating with them over email and conference calls”.

The RP also stated that Synergy was only interested if Jet Airways came with all its assets including flight slots, which the government has to maintain for them. The court then suggested that Synergy Group and the Ministry of Civil Aviation be made respondents to the current Company Petition. The Court also asked the counsel for SBI, the lead lender to Jet Airways, to consider the extension of date for submitting the bids in the CoC meeting which will be held tomorrow.

Interim funding

The court asked the RP to explore various methods of raising funds through the airline for interim funding, to which the RP stated he was already considering leasing out ground equipment, machinery, and buses that are owned by Jet Airways, in order to raise funds.

The next hearing for the said case has been set for December 3.

comment COMMENT NOW