TPG Capital founder David Bonderman among AirAsia’s new shareholders
KUALA LUMPUR: AirAsia Group Bhd’s private share placement exercise has attracted TPG Capital founder David Bonderman, Hong Kong businessman and well-known poker player Dr Stanley Choi Chiu Fai and other key investors.
Choi is chairman of Head & Shoulders Financial Group as well as the chairman and executive director of International Entertainment Corporation, a company listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
TPG Capital is a global investment firm with US$85 billion in assets under management and 14 offices around the world.
AirAsia said in a statement yesterday Bonderman and several partners at TPG Capital are investing in their personal capacity.
Another key investor in the share placement exercise is Aimia Inc.
AirAsia said it has completed the second tranche of 100.37 million new shares, representing about three per cent of AirAsia’s total issued shares, at 86.5 sen each.
This follows the initial tranche of 11.07 per cent, or 369.85 million shares, on Feb 19 that saw the emergence of Choi as a substantial shareholder after upgrading his share position to 8.96 per cent
from less than five per cent previously.
In total, both tranches offered 470.21 million new shares representing 14.07 per cent of AirAsia’s total issued shares and raised a total of RM336.46 million.
The share placement forms part of AirAsia’s larger plans to raise RM2 billion to RM2.5 billion via a combination of debt and equity to finance, among others, working capital requirements.
AirAsia Group chief executive officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes said the successful placement and overwhelming response from renowned investors were clear testaments to its strong fundamentals and future potential, especially with its pivot into digital
and data-driven businesses.
“This placement forms a significant part of our overall fundraising exercise to ensure liquidity throughout 2021.
“Of the gross total proceeds, AirAsia will allocate funds to support fuel hedging settlement, general working expenses, aircraft lease and maintenance payments and fund AirAsia Digital business units, namely the AirAsia super app and BigPay fintech platforms.”
On a wider scale, he said the private placement is a major vote of confidence towards the recovery of the aviation and tourism industries that have been severely battered by the Covid-19 pandemic.