Tata Sons to hike AirAsia India stake to 49%

New Delhi: Tata Sons will hike its stake in AirAsia India to 49 per cent by acquiring additional shares from Arun Bhatia's Telestra, which will be exiting the no-frills airline.

Telestra Tradeplace holds nearly 10 per cent stake in the low-cost airline. While Tata Sons would buy 7.94 per cent shareholding, the remaining stake would be purchased by the carrier's two directors -- S Ramadorai and R Venkataramanan, in their individual capacity.

Ramadorai, who is chairman of AirAsia India, and Venkataramanan would acquire 0.5 per cent and 1.5 per cent shareholding, respectively.

The latest development comes against the backdrop of Arun Bhatia expressing unhappiness over the state of affairs at budget carrier. Besides, there have been concerns in certain quarters about control and ownership at the airline.

Last month, the airline appointed Amar Abrol as CEO replacing Mittu Chandilya.

In a release today, Tata Sons said it would raise its stake in the airline to 49 per cent from 41.06 per cent by acquiring 7.94 per cent equity stake from Telestra.

"S Ramadorai and R Venkataramanan, in their individual capacity, propose to acquire 0.5 per cent and 1.5 per cent shareholding, respectively of Telestra's remaining 2 per cent equity stake in the company," it said.

The deal is expected to be completed next month, subject to relevant corporate approvals and processes, the release added.

In this regard, an agreement was inked on March 14 by Tata Sons with Air Asia (India) Ltd, Telestra Tradeplace Pvt Ltd, Ramadorai and Venkataramanan.

Malaysia's AirAsia Berhad would continue to hold 49 per cent stake in the airline.