PETALING JAYA: Capital A Bhd and AirAsia X Bhd (AAX) have resolved a major hurdle relating to a regulatory exemption required from Thailand’s securities regulation, marking one of the final steps toward completing the consolidation of all AirAsia airline businesses under AAX.

With this milestone, the two companies are now entering the final phase of completion for the sale of Capital A’s aviation business, which is a key part of its transformation journey from airline operator to a multi-platform travel and digital group.

In Bursa Malaysia filing, AAX noted that a key condition under Thailand’s securities regulations has now been waived, allowing the transaction to move forward smoothly. Instead of seeking a regulatory exemption, AAX and a local Thai partner will jointly undertake the tender offer for Asia Aviation PCL (AAV), the listed company that owns Thai AirAsia.

This means AAX’s 40.71% stake in AAV remains unchanged; the tender offer will be fully funded by the Thai partner, with no additional financial burden to AAX; and Thai AirAsia’s operations continue as usual, with no impact to flights or staff.

With the condition waived, both parties expect to announce all condition precedents met and that the share sale and purchase agreement will become unconditional by the end of October, followed by the completion of the transaction expected in December. The remaining steps required for completion include capital reduction and distribution, allotment of shares, and listing of shares.

This latest development paves the way for Capital A to apply for uplift from Practice Note 17 status by the end of December, which will enable it to fully focus on scaling its high-growth businesses under the group, namely ADE (engineering), Teleport (logistics), AirAsia MOVE (travel platform), Abc (brand licensing and digital intellectual property) as well as Santan (food and beverage business) and BigPay (fintech venture).

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