Lenders heat on Mallya: Kingfisher HQ gone, Gos villa next?

mangaloretoday.com/ yahoo

New Delhi, Aug. 13: Liquor baron Vijay Mallya may end up losing his luxury Kingfisher Villa in Goa next, if the mood of lenders for his once-trendy but now grounded airline is any indication.

Mallya was in a tight corner on Monday after lenders to Kingfisher Airlines (KFA) took possession of Kingfisher House, the airline’s headquarters near Mumbai airport, at the weekend.

 

One news website reported that an affiliate of State Bank of India, one of the lenders that took possession of Kingfisher House, has put the property up for auction. HT could not independently verify this. The sale of the property will be used to repay loans of close to Rs. 6,027 crore.

Lenders may next sell the group’s helicopters, assets and shares of UB Group companies. Kingfisher had put up a number of assets as collateral against its loans.

"We will not comment on any matter that is sub-judice," KFA spokesperson Prakash Mirpuri responded to an e-mail from HT.

KFA has been grounded since October last year. The airline, which never made a rupee in profit since it began flying in 2005, owes money to banks, airports, fuel suppliers and staff.

Banks have already recovered some money by selling shares pledged with them as security against loans to the airline. KFA shares fell to 2% to close at Rs. 3.86 on Monday.

Besides attaching property, lenders have also begun invoking corporate and personal guarantees provided by Mallya, to recover their money.