Government Issues Letter Of Intent To Tata Group For Air India Sale

The government on Monday issued a letter of intent (LoI) confirming the sale of its 100 per cent stake in loss-making Air India to Tata Group for Rs 18,000 crore, a senior official said.

Last week, the government had accepted an offer by Talace Private Limited, a unit of the holding company of salt-to-software conglomerate, to pay Rs 2,700 crore in cash and takeover Rs 15,300 crore of the airline's debt.

Subsequent to that, a LoI has now been issued to Tata confirming the government's willingness to sell its 100 per cent stake in the airline.

“Letter of Intent has been issued today,” Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey said.

Tatas now have to accept the LoI, post which the Share Purchase Agreement (SPA) will be signed. Conditions precedent to the transactions would need to be satisfied by Tatas before they actually take over the operations.

“Normally within 14 days of acceptance of LOI, the SPA is signed. We expect the SPA to be signed fairly fast,” he said.

The Secretary said the deal is targeted to be closed by December end. After SPA is signed, the regulatory approvals will have to come in following which the handover process starts.

Mr Pandey said the deal is targeted to be closed by December end. After SPA is signed, the regulatory approvals will have to come in following which the handover process starts.