Volcan Investments, the family trust of Vedanta Chairman Anil Agarwal, has shown interest to invest in the now grounded Jet Airways and has submitted an Expression of Interest (EoI) for the debt-ridden airline.
"Volcan Investments, investment company for Anil Agarwal, in an exploratory move, has sought an EoI for Jet Airways, to understand the business scenario for the company and the industry," the trust said in a statement on Sunday.
It, however, added that the EoI is in "no way linked to Vedanta".
An Economic Times report states that the EoI is more of a way for Anil Agarwal to understand the aviation industry and the airline and that no final decisions have been made. The same report quotes instances where Agarwal has taken risks to pull off acquisitions of distressed companies and turned them around. Cairn India, Hindustan Zinc and Balco are some of the examples.
The EoIs will be examined by resolution professional Ashish Chhawchharia to verify their eligibility. The final bids are to be submitted by September 12.
Apart from Volcan, Panama-based fund Avantulo Group and a Russian firm have also sent in their EoIs as per several media reports.
EoI don’t necessarily mean that that these companies have bid for the airline yet. It determines the level of interest there is in the airline. According to a Mint report, lenders are expecting these three firms to put in bids after the deadline was extended to accommodate more EoIs.
The deadline for submitting EoIs was August 10.
Etihad too, was expected to bid for the airline but reportedly backed out in the last minute. The resolution professional of Jet said in a regulatory filing that the list of prospective bidders would be issued on August 13. The estimated date of submitting a resolution plan before NCLT is September 27.