New Delhi/Mumbai: Key executives familiar with the talks between the Tatas and Singapore Airlnes told ET that the plan for the new airline was first mooted soon after the government cleared 49% FDI in civil aviation in September 2012.
Talks started when Ratan Tata was at the helm and continued through the transition period when Cyrus Mistry took over. Tata gave way to Mistry in December 2012.
The Tata-SIA talks went full steam ahead within days of the FIPB clearing, on March 6, the AirAsia venture. Tata Sons has a 30% stake in AirAsia India. The Tatas had taken Malaysia's AirAsia BhD, the larger partner in the AirAsia India venture, fully into confidence about the Tata-SIA deal.
"Both sides have been comfortable with each other. Government policies delayed the partnership. Once policies became favourable, we started discussions again and closed the deal," said a person involved in the negotiations. A team headed by Tata group's brand custodian Mukund Rajan and the chairman-designate of the new venture Prasad Menon started the negotiations with SIA. "There were a series of meetings in Mumbai and Singapore. Finally, we agreed on a transaction a few days ago," said the person.
Read News In full 20/09/13 Binoy Prabhakar, Arijit Barman & Sabarinath M/Economic Times
No comments:
Post a Comment