SpiceJet has sought its shareholders’ approval for Carlyle Aviation Partner, an aircraft lessor, to acquire a 5.91 per cent stake in the airline at Rs 48 per share.
The lessor will acquire these shares through the conversion of its existing outstanding dues worth $28.16 million, according to the airline. “This will reduce the outstanding debt obligations of the company,” it added. SpiceJet’s shares were trading at around Rs 31 on the BSE on Wednesday.
On February 27, SpiceJet had announced that it had restructured $100 million of its outstanding dues to Carlyle, after which the lessor would acquire a 7.5 per cent stake in the airline.
The cash-strapped airline has been struggling to pay its aircraft lessors on time. Dublin-based Aircastle, one of its lessors, has filed insolvency pleas against the airline at the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). These cases are currently under hearing.
On Tuesday, the carrier also sought approval from its shareholders for Spice Healthcare Private Limited, owned by its promoter Ajay Singh, to acquire a 20.31 per cent stake in the airline in exchange for equity infusion.
On July 12, Singh had announced that he would infuse Rs 500 crore into SpiceJet by subscribing to fresh equity shares and/or convertible instruments. This equity infusion from the promoter is necessary for the airline to secure further loans under the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee (ECLG) Scheme’s rules.
With this equity infusion from Singh, SpiceJet would qualify for additional credit facilities of Rs 206 crore under the scheme. The airline has already borrowed about Rs 410 crore under the scheme.
“The issue and allotment under these resolutions are being made to the promoter group to meet the promoter contribution requirement under the ECLG Scheme, which shall enable the company to avail further credit facilities under the said scheme,” SpiceJet stated.
“It will also strengthen the financial position of the company. The proceeds of the issue will be kept in the bank account of the company and shall be utilised for working capital requirements within a period of eighteen months of receipts,” it added.
The airline will issue fresh shares to Spice Healthcare. It stated that once the equity infusion by Singh is completed, his shareholding in the company will increase from 58.98 per cent to 63.83 per cent. Currently, approximately 47 per cent of the promoter’s 58.98 per cent stake is pledged with the banks.
SpiceJet is scheduled to operate 1,287 flights per week in August, which is 40.5 per cent fewer services than in August of the previous year, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.
Akasa Air, established a year ago in June, surpassed SpiceJet for the first time in terms of domestic passengers carried per month. The airline carried 618,000 passengers in June, compared to SpiceJet, which transported 555,000 passengers, as per data released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).