Reportedly moments before the window for submitting binding bids closed, Abu Dhabi based Etihad Airways gave its "conditional" bid for the grounded Jet Airways emphasizing that it cannot be the sole investor. Meanwhile the official deadline for submission of binding bids ended at 6 p.m. on Friday. Furthermore a 24% stake holder in the crisis-hit airline, Etihad, in an official statement, said that it had been working with various stakeholders for the past 15 months to find a solution to make Jet Airways viable and competitive.
Reports added Etihad's intent on sending in a bid, subject to certain conditions and in fact, this newswire had reported that investors lost interest in the airline after its valuable time slots at airports were allocated to other players. The airline said in a statement "Etihad Airways today confirmed its interest to re-invest in a minority stake in india's Jet Airways, subject to conditions”.
Earlier SBI Capital Markets had initiated the bid process from prospective investors for Jet Airways. Moreover lenders of Jet Airways led by the state-run State Bank of india (SBI) had mandated SBI Caps to initiate the process of selling the airline to recover their dues of over Rs 8,400 crore. Apparently private equity firm TPG Capital, Indigo Partners, National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) and Etihad were in the race to buy a stake in the grounded Jet Airways.
