New investor agrees to inject up to $100m into AirAsia's Thai unit

A unnamed investor has agreed to inject up to 3.15b baht($100.41m) into the Thai unit of AirAsia Group Bhd as part of a restructuring plan proposed by parent company Asia Aviation PCL, a Tuesday filing said. The investor will provide the amount via an interest-free convertible loan or bond, an Asia Aviation filing posted by AirAsia on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange showed. Asia Aviation said it had not been able to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and did not consider the situation to be returning to normal. In order to continue its operation “steadily and effectively”, it had contacted an investor at the beginning of year to seek support in increasing the company’s short-, medium- and long-term liquidity, the filing said. Thai AirAsia, the main operating subsidiary of Asia Aviation, is 45% owned by Malaysian budget airline AirAsia Group. Once Thai AirAsia has received regulatory approval to offer shares in an IPO, the investor expects to convert the loan or bond into ordinary shares at a rate of 20.3925 baht per share, the filing said, giving them a direct stake in the airline.<br/>