New Delhi, Feb 24 (IANS): Budget passenger carrier SpiceJet Tuesday said its ownership has been transferred to Ajay Singh from erstwhile promoter Kalanithi Maran and his Kal Airways.
The company informed the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) in a regulatory filing, that as of Monday the share holding of Kalanithi Maran and his KAL Airways have been transferred to Singh.
"Consequently, Singh has become the promoter of the company," the filing said.
Earlier, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) had cleared the proposed take over of the airline by Singh. Now the new promoter is waiting for a nod from the union home ministry to join the company's board as a director.
The development assumes significance as it is expected that the takeover by the new promoter will result in influx of fresh funds in to the cash-strapped airline.
Under the company's revival plan fresh funds will be infused into the airline once the takeover is completed. The infusion of funds worth Rs.1,500 crore is expected to be induced in a staggered manner till April.
On Jan 15, the airline's board had approved the plans to allow Maran together with his KAL Airways to off-load their stake in the company to Singh after regulatory clearances.
Maran, together with his KAL Airways, held 58.4 percent stake in SpiceJet, while Singh had a 4.5 percent stake. Maran acquired SpiceJet for close to Rs.750 crore.
In December 2014, Maran made it clear that no fresh bailout package could be put together for the airline in which nearly $400 million or Rs.2,500 crore has been invested since 2010.
This is Singh's second innings with the airlines which he co-founded with Bhupendra Kansagra in 2005. However, he had sold his stake along with Kansagra and assets buyout specialist Wilbur Ross in 2010 to Sun Group's Maran.
The airline also plans to raise funds up to Rs.1,500 crore through issue of securities.
After the regulatory filing, the company's scrip rose 2.80 percent (1.30 p.m.) in intra-day trade on the BSE at Rs.24.50 per equity share from its previous close of Rs.24.