Friday, 18 January 2013

Lenders want Mallya to pump Rs 1k cr more into KFA


MUMBAI: Bankers have asked Vijay Mallya to pump at least Rs 1,000 crore fresh capital into the grounded Kingfisher Airlines as a large chunk of the Rs 650-crore proposed to be brought in by Mallya would go towards meeting the airlines' liabilities to state bodies.

Banks, which are owed close to Rs 8,000 crore from the beleaguered airline, had a meeting with
KFA executives in Mumbai on Friday. The meeting took place at State Bank of India's main branch — a heritage office of the bank, which was the headquarters of the erstwhile Imperial Bank.

From the promoter's side the meeting was attended by Sanjay Agarwal, chief executive, KFA, and Ravi Nedungadi, chief 
finance officer, UB group. Mallya was not present at the meeting. Besides what it owes to lenders, Kingfisher Airlines has dues to state bodies including the airport authorities and the revenue department. Mallya had proposed to revive the airline by infusing Rs 425 crore last year and in a subsequent communication promised to infuse Rs 650 crore. The airline has now sought additional guarantees from banks.
Bankers, however, said that until past dues are cleared and promoters bring in additional capital of at least Rs 1,000 crore, KFA cannot expect any guarantees. According to the lenders, the biggest security that they have against their loan is the Kingfisher brand. They also hold in pledge some shares in the liquor business besides a couple of properties — the Kingfisher building near Mumbai airport and the Kingfisher Villa in Goa. Liquidating assets would enable lenders to realize only a small fraction of their dues.

In addition, the lenders also hold a large chunk of shares in the airline as a result of an earlier loan conversion. 
SBI, ICICI Bank, IDBI Bank and Bank of India together hold around 9%.

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