Air India sale: Bidders to have access to all records in initial stage

New Delhi: Potential bidders for Air India will have access to draft share purchase agreement and all records of the airline in the initial stage of the disinvestment process itself, according to a bid document.

Besides, a due diligence report about the airline would be provided to potential bidders before the request for proposal (RFP) stage. Generally, access to all data records and draft share purchase agreement (SPA) are provided to bidders put in their interest after the preliminary information memorandum (PIM) stage.

The government on Monday came out with the PIM for 100 per cent disinvestment of debt-laden Air India as well as sale of Air India Express and 50 per cent shareholding in equal joint venture AISATS.

An official in the know said the legal and technical aspects of various contracts would be looked at during the due diligence process. The government would soon be appointing a technical and a legal advisor for carrying out the due diligence. Entities seeking access to "data room" and SPA would have to deposit Rs 1 crore.

The last date for submitting expression of interest (EoI) is March 17 while the last date for queries related to the disinvestment is February 1. In 2018, the government had proposed to offload 76 per cent equity share capital of the national carrier as well as transfer the management control to private players. However, there were no bidders.