AirAsia X (D7, Kuala Lumpur International) will jettison its planned internal reorganisation and will acquire Capital A's aviation businesses directly rather than via a new company, AirAsia Group Berhad.
"This decision was arrived at after weighing potential benefits of the proposed internal reorganisation against [the] time required for the implementation of the proposed internal reorganisation and, more critically, the importance of an expedient completion of the proposed acquisitions to AirAsia X Group," a Bursa Malaysia filing said. "Accordingly, the company and the NewCo (AirAsia Group Bhd) had on July 26, 2024, mutually terminated the internal reorganisation agreement."
AirAsia X Bhd, doing business as AirAsia X, announced earlier this year that it would take over Capital A's aviation interests, namely AirAsia Bhd, which operates AirAsia as well as AirAsia Aviation Group Ltd, which runs Indonesia AirAsia, AirAsia Cambodia, AirAsia Philippines, and Thai AirAsia. The plan involved setting up AirAsia Group Bhd, which would take over AirAsia X's listing status. Instead, AirAsia X Berhad will now replace AirAsia Group Bhd.
The arrangement, which will leave Capital A free to focus on its non-aviation interests, will cost AirAsia X approximately MYR6.8 billion ringgits (USD1.47 billion). In an April 2024 Bursa Malaysia filing, the company said it would issue 2.31 billion shares at MYR1.30 (USD0.28) each to pay for AirAsia Aviation Group Ltd and acquire AirAsia Bhd by taking on debts of MYR3.8 billion (USD820,000) that Capital A owes AirAsia Bhd.
AirAsia X hopes the acquisitions will finalise by the end of 2024.
