KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 29 — AirAsia Group Bhd (AAGB) will complete its renounceable rights issue to its existing shareholders upon listing of the Redeemable Convertible Unsecured Islamic Debt Securities (RCUIDS) and Warrants on Friday.

The group will be able to raise RM974.5 million — a strong injection to support the group’s overall fundraising strategy.

AirAsia Group chief executive officer Tony Fernandes said the Rights Issue announced today is a key component of the company’s overall fundraising strategy, supporting a strong rebound in air travel across Asean in 2022. 

"We are gradually resuming flights in all of our key markets and look forward to returning to pre-Covid levels on many of our popular routes in the new year, alongside strong vaccination rates, better testing procedures and education in all of our markets. 

"It also shows continued strong investor confidence in our overall recovery strategy, including the digital transformation which has already received overwhelming support to-date through various fundraising initiatives,” he said in a statement today.

Furthermore, Fernandes said the airline has also secured Danajamin Nasional Bhd’s approval for an 80 per cent guaranteed loan of up to RM500 million, signalling strong support for its transformation strategy to become more than just an airline in the digital era. 

"Importantly, with today’s announcement, our fundraising strategy remains firmly on track. We have now achieved over RM2.5 billion through fundraising, providing strong liquidity to ramp up operations through next year when we expect to be sustainable and drive shareholder value once again.

"As our digital transformation continues to gain strong momentum, we now look forward to raising fresh capital for our fast growing super app, our regional logistics venture, Teleport, and engineering company, Asia Digital Engineering (ADE) in the near future,” he added.

The Rights Issue entails the issuance of seven-year RCUIDS with a nominal value of 75 sen each, plus free detachable warrants on the basis of two RCUIDS with one warrant for every six AAGB shares held. 

As a key component of AAGB’s fund-raising initiatives, the Rights Issue will enable AAGB to support various segments of the group, including but not limited to working capital and other operational costs incurred due to the outbreak of the global Covid-19 pandemic and costs required to ramp-up operations to be prepared for the rebound of international travel, balanced with funding growth of the various AirAsia digital business units. — Bernama