The sale of the debt-ridden Air India has been going on for a while now. Newest report about the same is that the Expression of Interest that was put in by the Air India employee consortium has been rejected and did not make it to the next round of divestment.
Earlier, we had reported that some Air India employees are planning to bid for Air India, by investing not more than Rs 100,000.
Air India Employees’ Consortium Fails to Make It To Second Round Of Divestment
As of now, there are 14,000 employees in Air India, and if all of them contribute Rs 100,000 each, then they can have a huge corpus.
As per an internal note being circulated among employees, it’s stated that “…after successfully completing stage 1, we are planning our bid in such a way that no single employee will have to contribute more than Rs 1 lakh.”
Later, it was decided that 209 employees of Air India would bid on the airline with a private investor to secure the purchase. The whole procedure was to be conducted by the Commercial Director of Air India, Meenakshi Mallik.
However, this hasn’t worked out.
A letter has been issued to the employees of Air India by Malik, that states that there has been an email from the Transaction Advisor to the Government of India (Ernst & Young LLP). the email states that the employees of Air India have been unnsuccessful in qualifying to the next phase of the ‘Disinvestment Acquisition process’.
The letter by Malik states, “While I write to you with a heavy heart on the outcome of our bid to acquire Air India, I cannot help but be filled with a great sense of pride and admiration for the sincerest efforts we have made over the last few months, together.”
What Will Happen Next?
The second stage of privatization will begin now. The shortlisted bidders will now be given a request a proposal (request for proposal), which includes Tata Sons and Spicejet. The RFP will consist of additional details on the divestment, which will be followed by a financial bid placed by the bidders.
The government also has plans to sell Air India Express and of 50 per cent shareholding in Air India Airport Services Private Ltd.