SINGAPORE - Singapore Airlines is poised to take full control of Tiger Airways with its general offer for shares in the budget carrier it does not already own closing on Friday (March 4), the national carrier said in a media statement on Friday (March 4).

Its offer has already crossed the takeover threshold, with SIA controlling 95.6 per cent of Tigerair as of Feb 26.

Shareholders who have not responded to SIA's offer will receive a letter on the compulsory acquisition of their shares "in due course", the carrier said on Friday.

"Singapore Airlines would like to thank Tiger Airways shareholders who found our offer compelling," SIA CEO Goh Choon Phong in the media statement.

"With full ownership of Tiger Airways, we will be able to fully integrate it within the SIA Group, strengthening Tiger Airways' future growth prospects," he added.

SIA launched a takeover bid in November last year to delist and privatise Tiger. It had to raise its offer price to 45 Singapore cents from 41 cents after Tigerair's minority shareholders said they were dissatisfied with it.