AirAsia eyes full ownership of BigLife

Currently, AirAsia’s wholly-owned subsidiary AirAsia Digital Sdn Bhd owns a 80% equity interest in BigLife. To fund the acquisition, AirAsia said it will issue a total of 85.86 million new ordinary shares at RM1.20 per unit.

PETALING JAYA: AirAsia Group Bhd plans to acquire the remaining 20% stake in BigLife Sdn Bhd, the operator of AirAsia’s customer loyalty programme BIG Rewards, for RM103.04mil via issuance of new shares.

The low-cost airline operator told Bursa Malaysia that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Aimia Holdings UK II Ltd to acquire the 20% stake. Aimia Holdings is wholly-owned by Aimia Inc, which is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Currently, AirAsia’s wholly-owned subsidiary AirAsia Digital Sdn Bhd owns a 80% equity interest in BigLife.

To fund the acquisition, AirAsia said it will issue a total of 85.86 million new ordinary shares at RM1.20 per unit.

The issue price of RM1.20 represents a 16.88% premium to the one-month volume weighted average prices of AirAsia shares up to and including March 22.

By making BigLife a wholly-owned entity, AirAsia expects to accelerate decision making and increase efficiency and productivity of the business.

“The proposed acquisition would also enable AirAsia to drive greater synergies with the group, which would further increase the value of its digital assets.”