DLL Represents Ace Aviation in INR 568 Crore Acquisition of Jet Airways Boeing 777 Aircraft

Malta-based Ace Aviation, a member of the Challenge Group, was declared as the highest bidders for two Boeing 777-300ER aircraft previously owned by Jet Airways (India) Ltd. (“Jet Airways” ) pursuant to a competitive auction process initiated by the Liquidator of Jet Airways (India) Ltd (“Jet Airways”) as part of the liquidation process. The two aircraft are currently parked at Delhi International Airport. The successful bid as per the stock exchange filings with BSE and NSE is INR 568.179 crores.

The auction process and declaration of the Ace Aviation as the highest bidders was challenged by Industrial Asset Transaction Services Private Limited (“H2 Bidder”) before the Hon’ble NCLT, Mumbai mainly on the grounds that i) the bid document did not disclose crucial information which the Ace Aviation were privy to due to their participation in previous sale transactions and therefore were in an advantageous position, ii) the H2 bidder was not provided borescope inspection and iii) the liquidator ought to conduct a fresh auction in view of the fact that the H2 Bidder was willing to make a higher bid compared to the winning bid of the Ace Aviation.

The Hon’ble NCLT, Mumbai dismissed the application vide its order dated 12.05.2026 inter alia on the grounds that the information available with the Ace Aviation was available in public domain and accessible to all and therefore, it could not be contended that the Ace Aviation was in any advantageous position. The Hon’ble NCLT also held that the decision of not conducting a fresh subsequent auction despite higher value being offered was a decision taken by the Stakeholders Consultation Committee of Jet Airways and therefore cannot be challenged.

The order was thereafter challenged before and upheld by the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal as well as the Hon’ble Supreme Court. The DLL team successfully represented Ace Aviation XIV Limited and Ace Aviation XV Limited across all forums.

This is the second batch of B777-300 ER aircraft which has been auctioned by Jet Airways in the liquidation process.

The team comprised of Petrushka Dasgupta (Partner), Krishna Baruah (Principal Associate) and Kewal Buddhdev (Associate) from the Bombay Team and Mridul Yadav (Principal Associate) from the Delhi Team.