Jet, Sahara extend deal deadline

Jet Airways and the Sahara group on Thursday agreed to extend the deadline of March 24 by three months for completing the acquisition of Air Sahara.

A joint statement issued by Jet Airways Chairman Naresh Goyal and Sahara chief Subrata Roy said the two had agreed to extend the term of the share purchase agreement by 90 days and the enterprise value of the deal remained the same ($500 million).

This put to rest speculation that Jet Airways was negotiating hard to bring down the price of the acquisition as it was not clear if it would get the entire air traffic rights and airport infrastructure of Air Sahara.

Sources said this would give Jet Airways the time to get all the required regulatory approvals and sort out contentious issues like the transfer of Sahara's parking slots and air traffic rights. The agreement to extend the deadline came after daylong negotiations between the Jet Airways and Sahara brass in New Delhi.

The Jet Airways team was led by Goyal and Executive Director Saroj Dutta, while Sahara was represented by Roy and Air Sahara President Rono Dutta.