April 24, 2007: Air Deccan may be being eyed by an investor from far off Ireland, if reports are to be believed. Irelandia, better known as Ryanair founder Tony Ryan's investment vehicle, is rumored to be looking at picking close to 26 per cent stake in the low-cost carrier. The deal, if made possible, may be worth around $100 million.

According to an aviation industry report, Irelandia, along with the Texas Pacific Group, have concluded their due diligence for the plan last month.

If the reports are true, Irelandia will be one among the many players who are looking at picking an Air Deccan pie. Indian majors like the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group and Kingfisher Airlines are the most prominent ones in the race. Of these, the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, more popular as ADAG, already holds a 5 per cent stake in Air Deccan. While the group is said to have already submitted a bid in this regard, Kingfisher promoter Dr Vijay Mallya is in parleys with the Air Deccan top brass.

Now with Ryan’s Irelandia said to among the contenders, the scene is going to have an international flavour too. Irelandia is known for the 16 per cent stake it owns in the Singapore-based Tiger Airways. It has also invested heavily in setting up a low-cost Mexican airline Viva Aerobus, which took flight recently.

Meanwhile, Air Deccan is in the process of fresh capital infusion of capital to boost operations. With many allied activities like cargo business being lined up, Air Deccan would need fresh capital infusion , said reports.