After Spice, Ross eyes JetLite

Mumbai: Many a questions were raised when American billionaire investor Wilbur Ross announced that he was putting his money to bail out the Indian low cost carrier SpiceJet.
However, the vulture investor as he is known, Ross definitely had a bigger game plan for the Indian skies and that is consolidating the low cost segment space.
That's where Ross decided to bet big and it’s no surprise then that another beleaguered low cost airline JetLite is now catching the investor’s attention.
NDTV learns from sources that a due-diligence has been initiated by SpiceJet for assessing the equipment and the airport infrastructure through a supplier and there have been official meetings for a possible equity divestment by JetLite.
Well, picking up stake is a part of a bigger game plan for Ross. Jet and has not been able to turnaround JetLite ever since it acquired it from Sahara in 2007. To top it all, the ongoing legal battle has put a big question mark on the game plan Jet has for this airline by launching a new low cost service as Jet Konnect. It also signals a weaning away from Jet brand.
Meanwhile, a beaten down valuation is what Ross would be interested in. He has the money, some $400 million that he still wants to invest in India.
16/07/09 Manisha Singhal/NDTV.com

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Categories: Foreign Jul 2009, JetLite Jul 2009, New Jul 2009, SpiceJet Jul 2009