Tigerair will go private after majority stakeholder Singapore Airlines (SIA) managed to acquire more than 90 per cent of the low-cost carrier’s shares.
As previously reported (see here), SIA began acquiring Tigerair shares last year. Initially offering Tigerair shareholders S$0.41 (US$0.28) per share, this was subsequently raised to an unconditional offer of S$0.45 (US$0.31) on January 4.
SIA had to own at least 90 per cent of Tigerair’s shares in order to delist the LCC. Singapore’s national carrier has now announced that it has acquired 93.8 per cent of the LCC’s shares, paving the way for it to suspend stock trading from February 19.
The move to completely take over Tigerair would allow SIA to take an active role in the restructuring of the LCC’s operations. Amid growing competition, Tigerair expanded its business aggressively – a move that is now hurting the airline, leading the carrier to cut capacity and cancel unprofitable routes.
The acquisition of Tigerair will also allow the airline to become fully integrated into the SIA Group, and creates an opportunity to establish a closer alignment between Tigerair and the group’s other LCC, Scoot.
For more information, visit tigerair.com and singaporeair.com
Clement Huang
