No bidders yet for India's Jet Airways, staff consider bankruptcy proceedings

Potential bidders for Jet Airways Ltd have so far failed to show any firm interest in bailing out the struggling airline, a source involved in the matter said, increasing the likelihood that the company will face bankruptcy proceedings. Jet, once India’s largest private airline, was forced to stop all flight operations on April 17 after its lenders declined to extend more funds to keep the carrier going. “Companies that had submitted initial expressions of interest are not following up with binding bids,” said the source. A second source involved in the process said bidders had until May 10 to come up with binding offers, a few days later than the April 30 date indicated by lead lender State Bank of India (SBI) last month. Earlier on Thursday, The Economic Times, citing sources, reported that three of the four qualified bidders - Etihad Airways, TPG Capital and Indigo Partners - had not signed the non-disclosure agreements necessary for conducting due diligence.<br/>