Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Praful Patel brings in industry friendly norms for aviation sector

The aviation industry has seen a lot of action in the recent past on the M&A front. In line with the trends, Praful Patel the civil aviation minister has decided to support mergers & acquisitions (M&As) in the sector with industry-friendly norms, reported Times Now.

Simple rules for the transfer of traffic rights and the right to use airport infrastructure to facilitate M&As in the sector are among the initiatives proposed in the comprehensive civil aviation policy, which will be considered by a group of ministers (GoM) soon.

The civil aviation ministry’s stand should help M&A deals by making it clear that an airline which takes over another can use the traffic rights of the latter. Parking bays, landing slots, hangars, check-in stands, lounge areas, ticketing areas and office space would also get transferred.

In the aviation sector, management change makes it mandatory for airlines to get several clearances all over again from various authorities including the civil aviation ministry, the Director General of Civil Aviation, Airports Authority of India, the home ministry and the corporate affairs ministry, which could change if the new policy is approved by the GoM.

Max India raises Rs.1000 crs through QIP placement

Max India today announced that it has raised Rs. 1,000 crore through a QIP, which was subscribed 2.3 times by broad based investors, spread globally. CLSA acted as the sole book runner and global coordinator for the issue.

The QIP raises FII holding in the company to 39% from around 26% earlier. Max India has an investment limit of 49% for FIIs.

The company has issued shares at a price of Rs. 240/- per share. Each share of Max India has a face value of Rs. 2/- and therefore, the new shares have been issued at a premium of Rs. 238/- per share. The new shares aggregate 18.8% of the fully diluted equity base of the company. About 40 % of the allocation went to US based investors while the remainder was split evenly between Asia and Europe based investors.

Max India plans to use the net proceeds from this issue to meet its additional funding requirements in line with its strategic business plans to further grow each of its existing businesses. A portion of the proceeds is also expected to be used for general corporate purposes including acquisitions and investments in new ventures. Encouraged by an almost 100% CAGR of its life insurance business since inception, the company has committed itself to growth plans for this business.

Source: Business Wire