SpiceJet has sought its shareholders' approval for Carlyle Aviation Partners, to acquire a 5.91% stake in the airline at INR 48 per share.
“Carlyle will acquire these shares through the conversion of its existing outstanding dues worth $28.16 million. This will reduce the outstanding debt obligations of the company,” SpiceJet said in a statement.
On February 27, SpiceJet had restructured $100 million of its outstanding dues to Carlyle, after which the lessor would acquire a 7.5% stake in the airline.
Besides the airline has also sought approval from its shareholders to infuse funds through a, Spice Healthcare Private Limited, a promoter group entity to acquire 20.31% stake in the airline. The airline will issue 3.4 crore shares and 13.5 crore warrants to Spice Healthcare in exchange for equity infusion.
On July 12, Singh had announced that he would infuse INR 50bn 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, SpiceJet would qualify for additional credit facilities of INR 2.06 bn under the scheme. The airline has already borrowed about INR 4.10 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 said. "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.”
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% to 63.83%. Currently, approximately 47% of the Singh’s 58.98% stake is pledged with the banks.
SpiceJet is scheduled to operate 1,287 flights per week in August, which is 40.5% fewer services than in August of the previous year, as per Cirium data.
The airline also said that it will seek shareholders' approval for the re-appointment of Ajay Singh as managing director of the company for a period of three years with effect from May 21, 2023.