No proposal made to Jet Airways for possible takeover, talks at preliminary level: Tata Sons

The financial crunch in Jet has resulted in delayed payments to its vendors and salaries to a section of its over 16,000 employees.

New Delhi: Amidst reports that debt-laden Jet Airways is nearing a rescue deal with Indian conglomerate Tata Sons Ltd, the latter on Friday said that no proposal has been made to Jet Airways for a possible takeover. Tatas said that the talks are currently at preliminary level only.

Naresh Goyal along with his family owns 51 percent stake in the company, Gulf carrier Etihad Airways owns 24 percent in the cash-strapped airline.

Tata`s businesses range from IT services to car-making. In aviation, it runs the Vistara full-service carrier with Singapore Airlines Ltd and operates low-cost domestic carrier AirAsia India along with AirAsia Group Bhd.

Earlier this week, Jet reported Rs 1,261 crore in losses for the September quarter against a profit of Rs 71 crore year on year, making it the third straight quarters of heavy losses. This had the airline also putting as many as six of its Boeing 777s on sale to part-fund liquidity.

Shares of Jet Airways surged for a second straight day, climbing 8.07 per cent. Jet shares, which had fallen 69 percent this year, rose as much as 30 percent before ending almost 25 percent higher at 320.9 rupees on record volumes on Thursday. That was their best closing level since late August and their best performance in percentage terms since listing in 2005.

The financial crunch in the company has resulted in delayed payments to its vendors and salaries to a section of its over 16,000 employees.