NEW YORK: A group of investors led by Carlyle Group Inc is considering reviving the sale of Trans Maldivian Airways Pvt, people familiar with the matter say, amid a recovery in travel to the island nation.
Carlyle and co-investors King Street Capital Management and Davidson Kempner Capital Management are working with a financial adviser on the potential sale of the Indian Ocean island-based business known as TMA, the people said.
The owners have started sounding out interest from prospective buyers, including other industry players and investment funds, the people said.
A recovery in travel post-Covid has boosted TMA’s profit, which may give the Maldives seaplane operator a higher valuation than in the previous sale attempt more than two years ago, the people said.
At that time, Bloomberg News reported the company could have been valued at US$500mil to US$700mil but a deal didn’t materialise.
Considerations are preliminary and no final decisions have been made, the people said.
Representatives for Carlyle, King Street and Davidson Kempner declined to comment.
TMA operates a fleet of 65 DHC-6 Twin Otters, including 13 resort-branded aircraft and two VIP-configured planes, making it the world’s largest seaplane operator, according to a recent press release. The company provides transfer services from the Maldives’ main international airport to more than 80 island resorts across the country, with more than 400 daily flights helping transfer some million passengers each year.
TMA has been in the hands of private equity firms in recent years.
Bain Capital and Chinese conglomerate Tempus Group Co, bought control from Blackstone Inc in 2017, the airline’s website showed.
Carlyle became TMA’s majority owner in 2021 after leading a debt restructuring deal, along with King Street and Davidson Kempner. — Bloomberg
