* Move will help airline reduce debt
* Founders to raise combined stake to nearly one-third
(Adds details of fund raising, analyst quote)
By Anshuman Daga and Saeed Azhar
SINGAPORE, April 1 AirAsia Bhd’s
founders tightened their grip on Asia’s biggest budget airline
with a deal to invest 1 billion ringgit ($257 million) in it,
helping the company to shore up its finances and cut debt.
The move by Asia’s biggest budget airline to issue shares to
Group CEO Tony Fernandes and Chairman Kamarudin Meranun is an
attempt to draw a line under market concerns about the company’s
debt and accounting-related issues that hurt it last year.
The founders will raise their combined stake to 32.4 percent
from 18.9 percent, the airline sai…
Read the full article at: http://www.reuters.com/article/malaysia-airasia-idUSL3N17436W