AirAsia
Realigns Proposed Acquisition Plans in Indonesia
AirAsia and PT Fersindo Nusaperkasa to immediately collaborate with Batavia Air
JAKARTA, 15 October 2012
-AirAsia Berhad (“AAB”) announces a strategic realignment to the
Conditional
Share Sale Agreement (“CSSA”) it had entered into on July 26th 2012,
together with its partner PT Fersindo Nusaperkasa (“Fersindo”) to
acquire PT Metro Batavia which operates the Indonesian airline, Batavia
Air (“Metro Batavia”) and Aero Flyer Institute (“AFI”),
an aviation training school (together “Metro Batavia Group”).
After
extensive study and discussion, the diverse nature of the two
businesses has prompted an alteration to the initial agreement. The
precise scale of integration,
including a re-fleeting exercise as well as streamlining an
amalgamation of cultures is expected to take up considerable time and
effort, joint resources which can be more efficiently utilised in a
targeted manner.
Commenting
on the decision, Group CEO Tony Fernandes said, “We always knew it was
not going to be an easy transaction. It has been a very good experience
and we
come out of it feeling more confident of what we need to do to grow the
market in Indonesia. Our aggressive focus in Indonesia remains and we
will push our Indonesian IPO plans while still maintaining close
co-operation with Batavia Air. The company’s decision
was based on a thorough evaluation by many parties into Batavia Air. In
our minds, the timing was perhaps not appropriate as it would have
induced too many risks and would ultimately be earnings dilutive to our
shareholders.”
Fersindo
shareholder Muhamad Riza Chalid added, “As an Indonesian company our
interest was to find the best solution for all parties, including the
Indonesian consumer.
The acquisition at this time would not have achieved these objectives.
We continue to be fully supportive of AirAsia’s growth in Indonesia.”
Dharmadi,
CEO of AirAsia Indonesia said the airline will accelerate its fleet
expansion starting from 2013 onwards. “We are looking to more than
triple our fleet
size in the next 5 years to accommodate an average annual passenger
growth rate of 24% and 28% in international and domestic markets
respectively. We will continue to strengthen our network by adding more
hubs and developing our services to Eastern Indonesia.
”In an effort to stay ahead of the curve, AirAsia Indonesia will also
upgrade its sales and distribution system, provide differentiated
services while implementing dynamic pricing strategies.
Batavia
Air Managing Director, Ibu Alice Tansari commented, “All parties worked
very hard to realize this transaction. Ultimately what matters is for
both airlines
to continue to provide the best service and choices for the Indonesian
traveller and our collaboration agreement will help to support that.”
The
proposed tie-up between the parties has been reorganized as a
multilateral, multi-phase collaboration agreement encompassing ground
handling, distribution and
inventory systems. A separate aviation training joint venture with
classroom, fixed-wing and simulation training facilities will be
immediately established between Batavia Air and PT. AirAsia Indonesia to
address an expected skilled pilot shortage in Indonesia.
The
new collaboration agreement is expected to deliver many of the intended
benefits of an acquisition and AirAsia, Fersindo and Metro Batavia
Group are unanimously
aligned to deliver the identified operational alliances, which will
mutually grow AirAsia Indonesia and Batavia Air’s businesses.
All
parties are fully committed to ensuring that the proposed collaboration
will be in compliance of all relevant local competitions regulations.
Both
airlines will continue to operate as normal and focused, accelerated
fleet growth in Indonesia remains a key priority for AirAsia.
***End***
About AirAsia & AirAsia X
AirAsia,
the leading and largest low-cost carrier in Asia, services the most
extensive network with 150 routes. Within 10 years of operations,
AirAsia
has carried over 140 million guests and grown its fleet from just two
aircraft to approximately 106. The airline today is proud to be a truly
ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) airline with established
operations based in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand
and Philippines servicing a network stretching across all ASEAN
countries, China, India, Sri Lanka and Australia. This is further
complemented by AirAsia X, its low-cost long-haul affiliate carrier that
currently flies to destinations in China, Australia,
Taiwan¸ Iran, Korea and Japan. AirAsia was named the World’s Best Low
Cost Airline in the annual World Airline Survey by Skytrax for four
consecutive years (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012).
Media Queries:
Aziz Laikar
Communications
Tel : +603 8660 4541
No comments:
Post a Comment