Malaysia’s central bank, Bank Negara Malaysia, has approved the offshore loans that AirAsia‘s founders Tony Fernandes and Kamarudin Meranun will use to inject over MYR1 billion ($247 million) of new equity into the airline.
As a result of the approval, the agreement to purchase 559 million new AirAsia shares at a price of MYR1.84 per share became unconditional on 30 Novemeber. This now gives the two directors 60 days to pay for the shares, which will be issued eight days after payment.
The announcement was made in a Bursa Malaysia statement by joint principal advisors CIMB Investment Bank and RHB Investment Bank.
Approval for the offshore borrowing has been holding up the deal, and forced the founders to delay it by several months.
Following completion of the deal, Fernandes and Meranun’s stakes in the company will each be lifted from 18.9% to 32.4%.