AirAsia denies talks of selling stake in AirAsia BIG

AirAsia has denied it is in talks to sell a minority stake in its loyalty programme AirAsia BIG to private equity firms.Reported on several Malaysian media sites, AirAsia chief executive officer Aireen Omar denied the move saying that AirAsia BIG  has “tremendous potential for growth”. Aireen added that due to its growing network of partners, AirAsia BIG is expected to grow its membership to over 20 million in the next five years.Aireen also added that the program has over 13 million members and is growing at a rate of 150,000 new members a month.The statement came as a response to an article published on Reuters which stated that AirAsia was looking to sell a minority stake “that could value the business at about US$330 million”. The article also stated that the sale could raise approximately US$100 million by selling a 30% stake.A+M has reached out to AirAsia for more comments.