SpiceJet has ‘several offers’ for stake in Indian budget airline

SpiceJet has received several proposals to buy into the company, but the Indian budget carrier is only willing to evaluate an offer if it’s strategic, its chairman and majority shareholder said. “SpiceJet has enough cash,” Ajay Singh said in an interview, while attending an industry conference in Seoul. “We have to see if this serves SpiceJet’s long-term interests, and when we come to that determination, we’ll do something. These are typical in a situation when an airline is doing well and the market is as promising as India.” India will need 2,300 new aircraft worth $320b in 20 years, Boeing forecast in February, as an emerging middle-class flies for the first time. Racing to extend its share of that market is SpiceJet, the country’s second-biggest no-frills carrier, which had almost shut down in 2014 after running out of cash. Singh, who started SpiceJet in 2004 and sold it six years later to a regional media baron, repurchased and revived the airline by renegotiating contracts with vendors and cutting unprofitable routes. Crashing oil prices also helped him embark on an ambitious expansion, eventually giving the airline a market value of $1.3b. <br/>