Golden Skies Ventures (GSV) has offered to acquire ailing state-carrier Malaysia Airlines for $2.5 billion, the media reported. Reportedly, a European bank has agreed to fund the deal for GSV to acquire Malaysia Airlines.
The company also claimed to have received a commitment from a Japanese private equity firm to put immediate funds into the aviation group through an equity deal.
GSV chief executive officer Shahril Lamin told the media, “We have secured in excess of $2.5bn from the bank. We will take about three to four months to get long-term financing.”
However, Malaysian sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd, the sole owner of Malaysia Airlines, is skeptical about the deal.
Recently, Japan Airlines, AirAsia Group and Malindo Air have shown their interest in the flag carrier.
Currently, airlines across the globe are battling severe revenue loss due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has pushed the world to the state of a lockdown.
A report by IATA published last month revealed that carriers in Southeast Asia could lose revenue of around $29 billion due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, since then the virus has spread to Europe, Africa and the Americas.
With travel demand down by more than 90 percent, many airlines are facing bankruptcy. Recently, European carrier Flybe entered into administration as the already struggling carrier failed to cope with the coronavirus.
So far, Malaysia Airlines has cancelled over 4000 flights due to the travel restrictions put in place to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
The airline has cancelled some of its operations till June 30, 2020.