Jet-Etihad deal gets CCI nod
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The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has cleared the INR2,058 crore Jet-Etihad deal, that involves Etihad Airways
buying a 24% stake in Jet Airways.
The Cabinet had cleared the deal on 4 October and with CCI’s approval coming through, the deal will now be fully operational.
The anti-trust regulator in its order said that it is granting the present approval ‘pursuant to the underlying competition assessment, based upon the information/details provided’ by the companies. “This approval should not be construed as immunity in any manner from subsequent proceedings before the Commission for violations of other provisions of the Act. It is incumbent upon the parties to ensure that this ex-ante approval does not lead to ex-post violation of the provision of the Act,” CCI said in its order.
“The approval will help Jet Airways to get funds from Etihad Airways by the way of equity infusion. This will help the airline repay high cost debt (and replace them with) cheaper loans. The benefits of synergies in terms of network and costs will start impacting the numbers positively in the next few quarters,” said a senior Jet Airways executive told the Mint.
India has also signed a new bilateral agreement with Abu Dhabi which will see an increase in the number of seats between India and UAE to 50,000 over a period of three years, from the current 13,330 seats.
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