The Air India privatization transaction has been completed today. The Government of India received a consideration of Rs 2,700 crore from Talace Private Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Sons Pvt Ltd. It is retaining the debt of Rs 15,300 crore in Air India and AIXL and transferring the shares of Air India to Tata Group’s Talace Private Limited. With this, Talace Group will receive 100% shares of Air India and its subsidiary AIXL and 50% shares of AISATS.
Talace Group won the bid for strategic disinvestment of Air India in October 2021, and the government issued the Letter of Intent in the month. The Share Purchase Agreement (SPA) was signed on 25 October 2021. Thereafter, Talace Private Limited, Air India and the Government worked towards satisfying a set of conditions precedent defined in the share purchase agreement, including approvals from anti-trust bodies, regulators, lenders, third parties, etc. These conditions have since been met to mutual satisfaction.
Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekharan met Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of the official handover of Air India to Tata Group. He also visited Air India’s headquarters after the meeting with PM.
What Changes for Air India When Tata Takes Over the National Carrier?
With the handover, all existing board members will resign and be replaced by the nominees of the new owner. Tata’s focus will be to bring back the lost sheen of Air India, where it will first work on improving airlines’ on-time performance. Inflight announcements may carry an address from the legendary Ratan Tata. The airline will implement an enhanced meal service from today in its flights. Recently, the management rolled out a mandate to check the BMI of the cabin crew members ahead of the flights. The Air India Cabin Crew Union is opposing the new order.
In an email sent to the cabin crew members, Air India mentioned that the next seven days would be crucial for changing the airline’s image, perception, and attitude. It called the cabin crew its ‘brand ambassadors.’
