Three entities have submitted formal expressions of interest (EOIs) to buy insolvent budget carrier Go First (Mumbai International), prompting its committee of creditors (CoC) to meet to decide on applying to India's National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) for an extension of time to sell the airline.
Reuters reported that the influential committee had decided to request the extension to allow for time to conduct due diligence on the potential buyers. A sale would reap a better return for the creditors than liquidation. India's insolvency laws allow administrators up to 330 days to sell a distressed company. As of early February, administrators and the CoC have around 60 days left.
Go First suspended operations in May 2023. Its administrators have since admitted outstanding debts of more than INR62 billion rupees (USD748 million). Last month, ch-aviation reported that the CoC approved the administrators making one final effort to secure a buyer after earlier sales campaigns had generated interest, but nothing more than that.
Since then, three potential buyers have lodged formal expressions of interest (EOIs) and the required INR50 million (USD603,000) bank guarantee. They include a recently recapitalised SpiceJet (SG, Delhi International), Sharjah-based Sky One, and an entity called Busy Bee. The latter has ties to individuals associated with a consortium called Plan It that was previously in the mix of potential buyers.
An extension of time would allow for the preparation of formal bids. However, the administrator and the CoC must settle on a new deadline and return to the NCLT to ratify the new date. The CoC is believed to be meeting to fix the date, with the administrator expected to return to the NCLT imminently.
