Jet Airways raises $150 mn syndicate loan from Gulf lenders

Jet Airways, the mumbai-based private carrier, said on Monday that it has concluded a five-year syndicated loan facility of US $150 million (over Rs 950 crore), which was fully subscribed to by banks spread across the Middle-East region.

Alpen Capital acted as financial advisors to Jet Airways for the transaction, the airline said in a release.

Jet Airways chief executive Cramer Ball said that the syndicated loan facility would be instrumental in underpinning the airline on its progressive path, adding, "We will continue to build on the strong foundation as part of our three-year turnaround plan."

Mashreqbank was the sole initial mandated lead arranger and book runner for the transaction, the airline said, adding the lending banks include those from Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain and Doha-based financial institutions.

"The successful closure of this transaction is clear evidence of the growing liquidity available from the Middle East, favouring large leading Indian corporates," Mashreqbank's head of international banking group John Lossifidis said.

Ratings firm ICRA had recently upgraded rating of Rs 3,210-crore loan facility given to Jet Airways, in which gulf carrier Etihad holds 24 per cent stake, based on improvement in cash flows.

Jet Airways had cut its consolidated loss by a whopping 95.7 per cent at Rs 43 crore in the quarter ended September 30, 2014 against Rs 999 crore in the corresponding year-ago quarter, on the back of a spurt in operational efficiency.

However, on a standalone basis, the Naresh Goyal-promoted airline flew back into profit with a net income of Rs 69.82 crore against a net loss of Rs 891 crore in the same period for the 2013-14 financial year.