NCLT approves Air India-Vistara merger; to form world's largest airline group

The National Company Law Tribunal NCLT on Thursday approved the merger of Air India and Vistara paving the way for the creation of one of the worlds largest airline groupsPostmerger which was announced in November 2022 Singapore Airlines will have a 251 per cent stake in Air India Vistara is a joint venture between Singapore Airlines and Tata GroupIn a 31page order the Chandigarh bench of the NCLT approved the composite scheme of arrangement involving Talace Air India and Vistara All are part of the Tata GroupAir India expects the merger to be completed by the end of this yearA twomember bench of the Chandigarh bench of NCLT observed that the scheme has already received necessary approvals from the shareholders and creditors of both airline companiesMoreover it has also received applicable approvals including that of fair trade regulator the Competition Commission of India CCI and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation DGCA Besides no sustainable objections have been raised by the Income Tax department or any other interested partyAccordingly a sanction is hereby granted to the Composite Scheme of Arrangement amongst the petitioner companies and their respective shareholders under Sections 230 to 232 and other applicable provisions of the Companies Act 2013 the NCLT order saidIt added that the sanctioned scheme shall be binding on the petitioner companies and their respective shareholdersThe Transferor Companies Vistara shall stand dissolved without undergoing the process of winding up on completion of the merger and associated formalities after receipt of necessary approvals including FDI approvalsecurity clearances as required under relevant CARs Civil Aviation Regulations issued by DGCAMCAany other authority within a period of nine months from the date of this order it saidThe order also said the companies shall ensure Foreign Direct Investment FDI approval by Singapore Airlines a shareholder of Vistara and security clearances as required under relevant CARs from DGCAMOCA within a time frame of nine months from the date of this orderIn March this year Singapores competition regulator CCCS gave a conditional nod for the proposed merger In September 2023 the deal received approval from the CCI subject to certain conditionsTata Group took over the reins of lossmaking Air India in January 2022This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever