At the same time Virgin Australia’s new ownership is moving to drop the country’s Tigerair carrier, China Airlines Group (CAG) has instead thrown its weight squarely behind the Taiwanese version.
The parent company of Taiwanese flag carrier China Airlines, CAG has unveiled plans to inject as much as US$68 million in fresh funding into low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan; stating the move will unlock “long-term equity investment”.
When the airline originally launched back in May 2017, CAG had both the backing of Taipei and a strong upper hand over minority shareholders Budget Aviation Holdings and Mandarin Airlines. At the time, CAG held 80 per cent of shares, with the remainder split evenly between the other two parties.
However, Singapore-based Budget’s interest in the joint venture has since been whittled down through a series of restructurings and refinance agreements – eventually relinquishing control of its stake after Tigerair Singapore morphed into Scoot in June 2017.
Per a financial filing lodged with the country’s stock exchange on 6 August, CAG now owns 90 per cent of Tigerair Taiwan; and while Taipei-based Mandarin controls the remaining 10 per cent, it is itself actually a CAG subsidiary.
According to the filing, however, the deal is not yet completed.
“The investment is pending a follow-up resolution of Tigerair Taiwan’s board of directors to confirm the number of shares to be issued and the price per share,” it said.
