Caught in debt, Mallya hopes for out-of-court-settlements

UB Group chairman Vijay Mallya. Reuters


FP : PTI ;Sep 12, 2013



Bangalore: UB Group chairman Vijay Mallya today expressed hope that out-of-court settlements could be reached in some of the winding up petitions filed by creditors of United Breweries Holding Limited (UBHL). 

“There are five winding up petitions that have been filed before the court in Bangalore, and out of these five, we have serious counter claims against three of the petitioners, which basically leaves two petitioners with whom we are in dialogue for an out of court settlement,” he told reporters in Bangalore after UBHL’s Annual General Meeting.

Certain companies, including BNP Paribas, which are creditors to UBHL, had filed company petitions in Karnataka High Court seeking winding up of UBHL as the holding company was unable to pay its debts. UBHL, holding company of the UB Group, is contesting in the Karnataka High Court admission of six winding-up petitions filed by aircraft lessors and financiers of the crisis-hit Kingfisher Airlines last year.

 On changes to Mangalore Chemical and Fertilisers Ltd (MCFL) shareholding, Mallya said UBHL was in full control of the company. 

“I cannot stop people from buying shares. Neither can I stop people from making claims, but how successful those claims will be only time will tell. As far as I am concerned, we are firmly in control of MCF and intend to remain so,” he said.



Deepak Fertilisers holds 24.5 percent in MCFL, while Poddar’s Zuari Agro has around 16 percent. All the three companies compete with each other in the fertiliser business, but huge debt load of Vijay Mallya-led group has led to speculations about MCFL being an apparent takeover target for rivals. 

Regarding Kingfisher Airlines (KFA)’s revival, Mallya without naming any investors or companies said, “We are in talks with potential investors and it will take some time to convince investors to invest and then revive the company.” 

Grounded carrier Kingfisher Airlines had accumulated losses of over Rs 16,000 crore as on 31 March 2013, while it had a negative net worth of close to Rs 13,000 crore. Its long-term borrowings stood at about Rs 6,900 crore, while short-term borrowings were Rs 1,750 crore at the end of last financial year.