Jet Airways seeks shareholder nod on capital boost

Reuters 

(Reuters) - said on Monday it would seek shareholder approval to issue new equity and convert existing debt into equity among other things at a special meeting on Feb. 21, as the beleaguered attempts to stay afloat.

The company will also seek approval to allow its lenders to nominate directors to its board, the said in a regulatory filing.

Saddled with a debt of about 80.52 billion rupees ($1.14 billion) as of Sept. 30, Jet is desperately searching for a deal that could help mitigate its severe liquidity crunch.

At the extraordinary shareholder meeting, the company proposes that share capital be increased 11-fold to 22 billion rupees from 2 billion rupees, by creating additional 500 million shares and 1.50 billion preference shares.

The latest development comes after Jet on Jan. 17 said a plan involving a cash injection by stakeholders and board changes were in the pipeline.

Jet, India's biggest full-service carrier by market share, owes money to pilots, lessors, banks and vendors. Its problems have been exacerbated by and intense pricing competition in the domestic market.

($1 = 71.1330 rupees)

(Reporting by Chandini Monnappa in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Shreejay Sinha)

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Mon, January 28 2019. 13:29 IST