More than two years after debt-laden Jet Airways ran out of money and suspended its operations, its revival plan was approved by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Tuesday. The resolution plan came from a consortium led by Murari Lal Jalan, an NRI entrepreneur based in the UAE, and Kalrock Capital, a UK-based asset management company. Last October, the Kalrock-Jalan resolution plan was given a go-ahead by the Committee of Creditors as well.
Who are the new owners?
Murari Lal Jalan: Jalan is a real-estate developer with business interests in countries like United Arab Emirates, India, Russia, and Uzbekistan. Financial experts see him as an Indian businessman with global exposure. However, it is not yet clear if Jalan or his representatives would hold a position in Jet Airways orits board.
Jalan joined his family business of paper trading in Kolkata in the 80s. In 2003, he acquired Kolkata-based Kanoi Paper and Industries and renamed it Agio Paper. It currently has a manufacturing facility in Bilaspur (Chhattisgarh). Later, he moved to Dubai and forayed into the real estate sector and started MJ Developers. The company, at present, is developing properties in Uzbekistan.
According to Business World, in 2015, Jalan acquired a stake in the company of Dr Naresh Trehan and Associates Health Services for Rs 75 crore. They had planned to start a hospital in Dubai with Jalan but the project didn’t materialise.
Kalrock Capital: Led by Florian Fritsch, Kalrock Capital is a global financial advisory firm headquartered in London. The company is best known for its real estate financing and venture capital investment. According to the company's website, it also has a special situation investment vertical.
Kalrock Partners provides a combination of investment and advisory services in financial, marketing, managerial and legal matters to all its partners. The group has been investing in alternative asset classes over the past 20 years, both as a principal investor, and in co-investment syndicates, as per the information given on its website.
Details of the deal
Jet Airways has admitted claims of Rs 7,460 crore from financial creditors, including State Bank of India (Rs 1,636 crore), Yes Bank (Rs 1,084 crore), Punjab National Bank (Rs 754 crore), and IDBI Bank (Rs 594 crore), among others. However, the Kalrock-Jalan consortium has proposed to repay Rs 1,183 crore to financial creditors and employees over five years.
The new promoters intend to restart Jet Airways as a full-service airline with 30 aircraft. In a press statement, the Kalrock-Jalan consortium said, “The Consortium maintains its stand that it wants to work alongside the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and all its competitors to put Jet Airways back in the skies.”
Meanwhile, the NCLT gave the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the DGCA 90 days to allot slots to the airline.
