Tata Sons to buy out Arun Bhatia from AirAsia India

Businessman Arun Bhatia is set to exit AirAsia India, ending an acrimonious partnership in which he alleged that the airline he jointly owns with Tata Sons and AirAsia Bhd was controlled from overseas. The airline is a 3-way joint venture with Tata Sons, AirAsia and Bhatia’s Telestra Tradeplace holding 41.06%, 49% and 9.94% respectively. Tata Sons said Monday that it will buy a 7.94% stake from Bhatia; 2 Tata Sons executives—AirAsia India chairman S. Ramadorai and director R. Venkataramanan—will buy 0.5% and 1.5%, respectively, from him in their personal capacity. Once the deal is complete, the holding of Tata Sons in AirAsia India will go up from 41.06% to 49% and that of Malaysia’s AirAsia, which has invested in the airline through AirAsia Investment Ltd, will remain at 49%. <br/>