UK bank likely to buy 2% stake in Deccan Aviation
Bangalore-based Deccan Aviation plans to offload 1.96% stake to UK-based Investec Bank for around Rs 30 crore. The company plans to use the funds to finance its expansion plans, senior company executives said.
Deccan Aviation plans to take up the stake-sale proposal in its AGM in November.
Company executives said that Investec Bank had earlier helped the company to finance several of its ATR and Airbus aircraft. They, however, refused to comment on the deal amount. Air Deccan has been on a major expansion drive, connecting 56 airports, plying 270 flights a day.
Deccan Aviation’s share holding pattern has several low-key investors with substantial equity interest. The present promoter group holding of 22.57% is split between co-promoters GR Gopinath (11.5%), Capt KJ Samuel (8.5%) and Vishnu Raval (2.9%).
The remaining 77.43% of public shareholding include institutional holding of 30.68%, which carries investments of ICICI Ventures and Capital International currently pegged at 15.57% stake and 14.19% stake, respectively.
Further, a London-based venture capitalist, Sumant Kapur, holds 10.22% stake in the company through his two funds and direct hold-ing.
Mr Kapur, who entered Deccan Aviation in ’04, has indirect in-terests routed through Eureka Venture Fund (5.5%) and Golden Ventures (3.79%) apart from his direct holding of 0.93%. The other stakeholder, Lachmandas Ladhani, a key Coca Cola bottler, directly and indirectly controls 11.38% stake.
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