Jindal Power steps away from a takeover bid for Go First

Bengaluru: Naveen Jindal group company Jindal Power will not go ahead with the financial bid for the cash-strapped Go First after a month-long due diligence process making the airline's revival difficult and longer, sources close to the development told DH on Tuesday.

This comes a day ahead of the November 22 deadline for submission of a financial bid, as per the sources.

"The intent of the expression of interest (EoI) was to get access to the company's data and its valuation. Go First's (financial) book has hefty loans. It is not an asset to bid for," an informed source told DH. As things stand now, Jindal Power will not be going ahead with this deal, the source added.

Jindal Power had extended its EoI to take over the cash-strapped carrier earlier in October. This came after a bid from Planit Travglobal, the sole general sales agent (GSA)/distributor of Dubai-based carrier Flydubai, had been rejected owing to nonfulfilment of certain conditions, DH had reported.

Now, the airline will extend the deadline for the final submission of the financial bid, another source close to the matter said, adding that Malaysia Airlines could be the bidder.

Besides Jindal Power Ltd, the beleaguered airline Go First has drawn interest from players such as Malaysia Airlines, Europe’s EasyJet and US-based Spirit Airlines, as DH reported earlier.

The cash-strapped Go First stopped operations in May this year after half its 54 Airbus A320neos were grounded on account of faulty Pratt & Whitney engines. In its application for voluntary insolvency with the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) filed the same month, the airline said it had defaulted on payments of Rs 2,600 crore to aircraft lessors and of Rs 1,200 crore to vendors. The carrier's pending dues to creditors are pegged at Rs 6,000 crore.