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Blue Dart to sell stake in aviation arm to enable takeover by DHL
Courier company Blue Dart Express has decided to divest its stake in its wholly-owned subsidiary Blue Dart Aviation Ltd in order to facilitate the acquistion of the parent company by global logistics major DHL Express. The company said in a notice issued to BSE: “The board of Blue Dart Express Ltd has approved the divestment/sale of equity shares of Blue Dart Aviation Ltd, being its wholly-owned subsidiary company up to 100% of the equity share capital.” Under the foreign direct investment (FDI) guidelines for the aviation sector, the foreign holding in airlines has been capped at 49%. DHL, which has inked a deal to buy a 68.2% stake in the company for Rs 566 crore and announced an open offer for another 20% would have exceeded this cap by virtue of its shareholding in the parent company. DHL Express regional director (South East Asia and Indian sub continent) Bryan Jamison had earlier made it clear while announcing the acquisition that DHL would bring down its stake to conform to the FDI guidelines by hiving the subsidiary into a separate entity. DHL would hold 40% stake while the two promoters, Tushar Jani and Kushroo Dubash would hold the balance stake, Mr Jamison had then said. The valuation for the aviation business has been arrived on the basis of the report submitted by M/s Haribhakti & Co, Chartered Accountants, Mumbai dated, November 20, 2004. Blue Dart Aviation has five cargo aircraft for its domestic operation. Senior officials at Blue Dart refused to commnet further on the issue and directed allqueries to DHL in Singapore. A DHL spokesperson too declined to comment on the issue. The DHL spokesperson said in an e-mailed response to a questionnaire sent by FE, “With regard to the Blue Dart Express board meeting held today, we were not in attendance and therefore not privy to what might have. It is perhaps best to check with Blue Dart on this.”