Mallya and Gopinath back on the negotiating table?

CNBC-TV18 has learnt that Kingfisher Airlines may be interested in picking up a stake in Air Deccan. And Gopinath has put about 15% stake on the block. He is looking at raising between USD 50 and USD 100 million for the airline.
CNBC-TV18 has learnt that the two strong contenders for this stake are the Texas Pacific Group and Kingfisher Airlines. However, both Mallya and Gopinath deny talking to each other at this stage.
But the logic for the two to come together is eminent, especially after Jet has decided to convert Sahara into a budget carrier. So will it be two big titans clashing in the sky - two giants fighting it out for the premium and the budget traveler? Jet, the premium carrier with JetLite its budget arm on the one hand and Kingfisher, the full service airline with Deccan as its leaner version on the other - the arrangement could work well.
This is not the first time that the two are talking business with each other. Earlier, when Vijay Mallya wanted to start an airline, he did show interest in buying out Deccan, but at that time the newly formed low-cost airline was not up for sale.
20/04/07 Moneycontrol.com

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Categories: Air Deccan Apr 2007, Kingfisher Apr 2007