Jet Airways creditors to recover $300-$400 mn in liquidation scenario

Mumbai: Creditors of Jet Airways are likely to recover less than 10 per cent of the carrier’s total outstanding dues in a liquidation scenario if no suitor succeeds in buying the airline, two sources told Reuters.

The airline’s financial and operational creditors, who are owed nearly Rs 30,000 crore ($4.20 billion) are likely to recover only $300-$400 million from the sale of Jet’s assets, the sources, who have direct knowledge of the matter, said.

“The expected recovery on owned planes and real estate is $300-400 million after repaying debt tied specifically to those assets,” said one source.

The sources, who asked not to be named as they have not been cleared to discuss the matter with the media, said Jet currently has some four to six Boeing and Airbus aircraft, and some real estate assets in India, on which there are some outstanding dues.

Less than a year ago, the airline was operating a fleet of 120-plus planes.

The court-appointed resolution professional, Grant Thornton, now responsible for the company, declined to comment and said the focus remains on resolution and not liquidation at this stage.

The bankruptcy process allows lenders to sell the company as a whole or in parts to maximise recovery for creditors. Apart from SBI-led lenders, the airline has 2,400 creditors, including suppliers, vendors and employees.

Grant Thornton in July opened bids for those interested in buying a stake in the airline. The initial deadline of 15 days was extended to accommodate more bidders but the response has been tepid.

Three early-stage bidders include Synergy Group Corp, which owns a majority stake in Colombian carrier Avianca Holdings, Russia’s Treasury RA Par-tners and Panama-based investment firm Avantulo Group.  

 —Reuters