TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search results
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search resultsLong-term investment needed for Tigerair Mandala
Saratoga Capital, the majority shareholder of budget airline Tigerair Mandala, has said it believes the airline's management will assess the best investor that is eager to commit to a long-term partnership
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
S
aratoga Capital, the majority shareholder of budget airline Tigerair Mandala, has said it believes the airline's management will assess the best investor that is eager to commit to a long-term partnership.
Recent reports stated that the airline's Singaporean partner, Tiger Airways, planned to quit the joint venture after recording huge losses last year.
Sandiaga S. Uno, a founding partner of the equity firm Saratoga, did not comment specifically on Citilink, a subsidiary of national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, which is currently looking to acquire Tigerair Mandala.
'As a representative of Saratoga, I have handed over the investor assessment to the management in order to find the best strategy for keeping Tigerair Mandala alive,' he told The Jakarta Post after a press conference in Jakarta on Friday.
Last month, Citilink was reportedly interested in Tigerair Mandala, partly due to its strategy to strengthen the airline's regional networks.
Citilink president director M. Arief Wibowo said his company had submitted an offer to Tigerair, which had issued a response. Arief said that a due diligence assessment was due to be held and that the two companies had signed a non-disclosure agreement.
On Friday, however, Sandiaga said that Tigerair Mandala's management had not yet sent the assessment results to Saratoga, due to its thorough approaches for potential investors.
'We haven't heard about further discussions with any investors, but we hope for the best. We are talking about a long-term plan, not just a month-by-month assessment,' he said.
Sandiaga previously said that Tiger Airways would maintain its commitment to keeping the low-cost carrier running, despite media reports in March that the Singaporean partner aimed to sell or cancel its Indonesian joint venture unless there were signs of a turnaround this year.
Kompas.com quoted Sandiaga saying in March that the depreciated rupiah had forced the carrier to cut a number of its flights, leading to huge losses. Sandiaga said the rupiah and the high cost of aviation turbine (avtur) fuel had burdened the airline.
Mandala Airlines ceased operations in 2011 after being suspended by the Indonesian government due to debts totaling Rp 2.45 trillion (US$212.48 million).
Mandala took to the skies again in 2012 under the new name, Tigerair Mandala, after financial restructuring, in which Tiger bought a one-third stake, which was eventually increased to 35.8 percent in September 2013.
Nevertheless, Tiger lost nearly S$40 million ($32.03 million) in the venture in April-December 2013, according to media reports. (gda)
