Singapore Airlines gets 25.1% stake in Air India after Vistara merger

Singapore Airlines will have 25.1 per cent stake in Air India after the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Thursday approved the merger of Air India and Vistara.

The Chandigarh bench of the NCLT approved the "composite scheme of arrangement" involving the merger of Talace, Air India and Vistara, all part of the Tata Group.

Vistara was formed as a joint venture between Singapore Airlines and Tata Group while Tata Group took over control of loss-making Air India in January 2022.

The merger of Air India and Vistara creates one of the world's largest airlines.

A two-member bench of the Chandigarh bench of NCLT observed that the scheme has already received regulatory clearance as well as approvals from shareholders and creditors of both the airlines.

The merger proposal has already been approved by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Vistara will get automatically dissolved on completion of the merger and associated formalities, including receipt of FDI approvals and security clearances, as per the order.

NCLT order also detected the merging entities to obtain all approvals within a time frame of nine months from the date of this order.

Singapore's competition regulator CCCS had, in March this year, given conditional nod for the proposed merger.

Air India expects to complete the merger process by the end of this year.