Investors led by Carlyle Group are considering selling Trans Maldivian Airways (TMW, Malé) in a transaction that could value the world's largest seaplane operator at USD700 million reports Bloomberg, citing unnamed well-placed sources.
Carlyle and co-investors - hedge fund managers King Street Capital Management and global institutional investment management firm Davidson Kempner Capital Management - reportedly have held initial talks with potential advisers to divest from TMA, said the sources, who asked not to be named. They claimed the Maldives-based seaplane operator was valued between USD500 million to USD700 million.
The sources said other firms in the industry and investment funds had shown preliminary interest in acquiring TMA. Considerations are ongoing, but no final decision has been made, and the owners could still decide to retain the asset for longer, they added.
Carlyle became TMA's majority owner last year after leading a debt restructuring deal, along with King Street and Davidson Kempner.
King Street Capital Management and Davidson Kempner Capital Management both declined to comment when approached by ch-aviation. Carlyle Group and TMA were not immediately available for comment.
Carlyle took over the majority stake from Bain Capital in exchange for agreeing to restructure the airline's outstanding debt of about USD300 million. Bain Capital and Tempus Group, a Chinese tourism-focused conglomerate, have retained minority stakes in the airline. Bain Capital had owned most of TMA since 2017, when it paid over USD500 million in a leveraged buyout deal, together with Tempus, to acquire the airline from Blackstone Group Inc.
Founded in 1989, TMA is the oldest air services provider in the Maldives and has since expanded into the world's biggest seaplane operator, according to its website. The airline's fleet comprises fifty-eight aircraft, including fifty-three DHC-6-300s, three DHC-6-400s, one DHC-6-200s, and one DHC-6-100, according to the ch-aviation fleets module.
