Singapore Airlines Gets Green Light for Vistara-Air India Merger

30 Aug 2024 , 12:10 PM

Singapore Airlines (SIA) announced in an exchange filing on Friday that it has obtained approval from the Indian government for foreign direct investment (FDI) in a transaction with the Tatas, which is a positive development for the Air India-Vistara merger.

The flagship airline of Singapore, which has a 49% share in Vistara, had stated that the Indian airline and Tata-owned Air India would combine in November 2022. Five1% of Vistara is owned by the Tatas.

Following the merger, roughly 25.1% of the expanded Air India is anticipated to belong to SIA.

The Tata-SIA Joint Venture is one step closer to realizing its goal of being the leading full-service airline in both the domestic and international markets with the FDI permission.

“The FDI Approval, together with anti-trust and merger control clearances and approvals, as well as other governmental and regulatory approvals received to date, represent a significant development towards the completion of the Proposed Merger,” SIA stated in a statement.

The merger is now anticipated to be completed by the end of 2024, while compliance with Indian rules is still a must.

To account for this updated timescale, the parties are in talks to extend the Long Stop Date from the previously stated deadline of October 31, 2024.

Following a conditional approval for the proposed acquisition in March by Singapore’s competition authority, CCCS, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) approved the merger in June of this year.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) approved the agreement in September 2023, subject to a few restrictions.

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