KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – A private placement to raise 1 billion ringgit ($226 million) by Malaysia’s Capital A, owner of budget airline AirAsia, was “done”, Group CEO Tony Fernandes said on Monday, as the company edges closer to completing a reorganisation plan.
“We have a 1 billion (ringgit) placement, where there has been various stories, but I can confirm that it’s done,” Fernandes said at a press conference on Monday, declining to comment further.
Bloomberg last week reported Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund was set to invest $100 million in AirAsia, with the firm also in discussions with potential investors from Singapore and Japan.
AirAsia was founded in 2001 with two aircraft and has since become one of Asia’s largest budget airline operators.
Parent company Capital A was hard hit by pandemic travel restrictions and classified by Malaysia’s stock exchange as PN17, or financially distressed. It is seeking to exit PN17 status to maintain its stock exchange listing.
On Friday, Capital A said Malaysia’s stock exchange had approved its plan to exit PN17 status, which Fernandes said on Monday could be achieved by May.
That would allow the company to sell its AirAsia aviation business to long-haul unit AirAsia X, which it announced a year ago in a move to consolidate long and short-haul operations under a single AirAsia brand.
Before that can be completed, Capital A’s shareholders need to approve the plan to exit PN17 status and Malaysia’s high court has to approve Capital A’s planned capital reduction. Capital A also has to demonstrate two profitable quarters, Fernandes said.
“Already the fourth quarter we were profitable, and we are looking at our forecast, Capital A will be very profitable in the first quarter. So we think by May, Capital A will be out of PN17 fully,” Fernandes said.
Capital A plans to retain 18% of the resulting AirAsia airline group, and the group’s non-aviation businesses, which include logistics firm Teleport and aircraft maintenance company Asia Digital Engineering.
($1 = 4.4160 ringgit)
(Reporting by Lisa Barrington in Seoul and Danial Azhar in Kuala Lumpur; Editing by Jamie Freed)
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