Braking News: Tata Sons announces merger of Air India and Vistara
Singapore Airlines (SIA) and Tata Sons agreed to merge Air India and Vistara, and SIA has also invested Rs2,058.5 crore (US$250 million) into Air India under the deal and holds 25% stake, according to a press release issued on 29 November. At present Singapore Airlines owns 49 % of VISTARA and TATA owns 51%, after merger SIA will owns 25 per cent and remaining by TATA sons.
This means that Singapore Airlines (SIA) Partnership would be controlling one of the largest Indian aviation groups, which has 23 percent market share, and spans the entire full-service and low-cost air travel spectrum. As part of the merger, Singapore Airlines is also expected to invest Rs 2,059 crore into the Tata Group-owned Air India. In a significant consolidation in India's aviation sector, Tata Group announced on Tuesday that it has merged Vistara Airlines with Indian carrier Air India. Under the agreement, Singapore Airlines would hold 25.1% equity in Indian carrier Air India. TATA sons today started merger process and aim to complete its merger by march 2024.
Singapore Airlines (SIA) informed Singapore exchange in October about its discussions with Tata Sons about the re-merger of the Tata Group-owned Air India. In keeping with Singapore Airlines strategy to have multiple hubs, SIA is now engaged in confidential discussions with Tata Group for exploring potential transactions related to Vistara's securities and Tata subsidiary Air India Ltd. Singapore Airlines CEO, Goh Choon Phong, said with the proposed merger,
SIA has the opportunity to deepen its relationship with the Tata group and to participate directly in the exciting new phase of growth of Indian aviation market.
The announcement Tuesday night confirmed market speculation long held that Tata Group will eventually combine all of its aviation assets in Air India and Air India Express, which it bought from the Indian government earlier this year, following 69 years of state control. In a separate announcement, The Tata Group said that, after the consolidation, Air India will become the leading domestic and international airline in the country, with a combined fleet of 218 planes, making Air India the largest international carrier and second largest domestic carrier. Still IndiGo hold position of India largest air carrier. The integration of all of its parent organizations under Air India branding will create a unit of almost 200 aircraft with over 800 domestic and international departures.
Partner Tata Sons has already integrated the group's lower-cost assets, having acquired the remaining stake in AirAsia India from a Malaysian conglomerate, with a view to merging it with Air India Express later next year. Commenting on the merger between Air India and Vistara, Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekharan said that the merger was an important milestone in our journey of making Air India a world-class airline indeed. Singapore Airlines Ltd (SIA) said Tuesday that it will become the 25.1% shareholder in Indian airline Air India in the transaction which will combine its full-service airline joint venture Vistara with Tata Sons, making the Indian domestic carrier the largest shareholder of Vistara.
