Lenders To Jet Airways Shortlist Four Potential Bidders

Lenders to Jet Airways (India) Ltd. have shortlisted four bidders who may potentially submit a bid next month, a person aware of the matter said.

The shortlisted bidders have signed non-disclosure agreements with the committee of creditors and have been given access to the beleaguered airline's financial data, the person told BloombergQuint on the condition of anonymity.

The Jet Airways bidders are:

• A consortium of Murari Lal Jalan and Kalrock Capital Partners
• A consortium of Imperial Capital Investments, Flight Simulation Technique Centre and Big Charter Pvt. Ltd.
• Canadian investor Sivakumar Rasiah
• Alpha Airways

The bidders will have two weeks to review the financial data and firm up their bids. A bidder can still choose to not submit a bid at the end of the due diligence process.

The shortlisted bidders are yet to respond to BloombergQuint's emailed queries.

Kalrock Capital is a U.K.-based financial investor that has tied up with Jalan, a U.A.E.-based businessman. Jalan has interests in real estate, mining, trading, construction, fast-moving consumer goods, dairy, travel and tourism and industrial works. His business interests are spread across U.A.E., India, Russia and Uzbekistan.

Sanjay Mandavia, a former pilot, is the current chief executive officer of Flight Simulation Technique Centre and a director at Big Charter Pvt. The two entities have formed a consortium with Imperial Capital Investments to participate in the bidding process.

Sivakumar Rasiah is a Canadian citizen who has participated in the bidding process in personal capacity and Alpha Airways is a Kolkata-based company.

Synergy Group, a South American conglomerate that has been keen on investing in Jet Airways since last year, was barred from participating. Other bidders such as Hyderabad-based Turbo Aviation and a consortium of Jet Airways employees, who submitted expressions of interest last month, were also not shortlisted.

This is the fourth round of bidding for the grounded carrier under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. Lenders had invoked the bankruptcy law last year. Jet Airways shut flight operations in April last year.

The qualifying criteria for the bidders have been lowered for the fourth round. The last round concluded in February, with no bidder turning up.

Financial creditors to Jet Airways are owed Rs 8,232 crore, while operational creditors have outstanding dues of more than Rs 7,300 crore, according to details available on the airline's website.