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AirAsia boss Tony Fernandes and his long-time business partner
Kamarudin Meranun are working with banks to secure financing for
the transaction, which could be launched over the next few
months, said the people, who did not want to be identified as
the discussions are confidential.
Obtaining financing will be key for the deal to succeed, the
people said.
An AirAsia spokeswoman had no immediate comment when contacted
by Reuters.
The airline's market value has fallen 40 percent to 3.51 billion
ringgit ($803 million) since Hong Kong-based GMT Research
questioned AirAsia's accounts in a report in June.
The report came as AirAsia was under pressure to turn around its
loss-making affiliates and was being squeezed by industry
overcapacity in a low-margin business.
Group CEO Fernandes, who has led the airline's rise from a
two-plane operation in 2002 to a billion-dollar business, has
steadfastly defended the company's finances and outlook and said
the market was undervaluing it.
Tune Air, jointly owned by Fernandes and Meranun, owns about 19
percent of AirAsia. The plan to take the airline private comes a
decade after it was listed on the Kuala Lumpur stock exchange
priced at 1.25 ringgit for institutional investors, around where
it was trading on Tuesday.
($1 = 4.3710 ringgit)
(Reporting by Anshuman Daga and Saeed Azhar; Additional
reporting by Yantoultra Ngui in KUALA LUMPUR; Editing by Lisa
Jucca and Alex Richardson)
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