Air India may offload 15% stake through an IPO
08 Oct 2007
1
Calcutta:
The National Aviation Company of India Ltd (Nacil), the state-owned entity formed
after the merger of Air India and Indian, may offload 15 per cent of its equity
through an initial public offering (IPO). According to Nacil chairman, V Thulasidas,
a decision in this regard would be taken only after all formalities of the merger
were complete. Thulasidas also said that the domestic and overseas operations of the new state-owned airline would be conducted under the Air India brand name. Alliance Air, the wholly owned subsidiary of Indian, which connects non-metro routes, will also become a part of Air India.
According to Thulsidas, the company will offer employee stock options to its staff prior to the IPO. The merged airline is expected to have 34,000 employees.
The
airline, which is currently expanding its fleet, is interested in becoming a member
of the Star Alliance. Star is the oldest airline network with 17 full and 15 regional
members.
