Singapore Airlines Offers to Buy All of Tiger AirwaysSINGAPORE— Singapore Airlines Ltd. offered to buy all the shares of its unit Tiger Airways Holdings Ltd. that it doesn’t already own, valuing the loss-making budget airline at 1.02 billion Singapore dollars (US$728.7 million).
Singapore Airlines said Friday it will pay S$0.41 in cash for every Tiger share it doesn’t own. The Singapore flag carrier currently owns 55.6% of Tiger.
Tiger’s shareholders also have the option to use the cash to subscribe to Singapore Airlines shares at S$11.1043 apiece, according to a regulatory filing.
Singapore Airlines said it plans to delist Tiger Airways and the offer allows investors to either cash out on their investment in the discount carrier, or to remain invested in the long-term prospects of the Singapore Airlines group.
Singapore Airlines said that given the intense competition in the low-cost airline industry, Tiger Airways will get “enhanced benefits” from being a full member of the group. That “will ensure that Tiger Airways has a strong future and provide new opportunities for growth,” Singapore Airlines said.
Singapore Airlines has been struggling to increase its profitability as it faces intense competition on its long-haul routes to Europe and the U.S. from Persian Gulf carriers such as Emirates Airline and Qatar Airways.
Closer to home, the surging growth of highly aggressive budget carriers such as AirAsia and Jetstar Airways has taken away a big chunk of its passengers.
In the last three years, Singapore Airlines has sought to carve a share in all major segments of the market by growing its unlisted short-haul premium airline SilkAir. Separately, it started a medium-haul discount airline called Scoot, and took greater interest in running Tiger, initially as an associate and currently as a subsidiary.
The offered price for Tiger shares is at a 32% premium to Tiger’s closing price Thursday and a 35% premium to its volume weighted average price in the last month, it said.
This entry was posted on Thursday, November 5th
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