After three failed auctions, banks have finally managed to sell the Kingfisher Villa in Goa belonging to the troubled businessman Vijay Mallya to a city-based actor for Rs 73 crore through a private treaty. The harried lenders to Kingfisher Airlines have ended the jinx to recover the dues of over Rs 9,000 crore by monetising assets of the airline under their custody by selling the villa to actor-producer Sachiin Joshi.
The sale of KFA Villa finally took off earlier this week after three failed auctions, the last being on March 6. With this, the lenders' only other asset is the Kingfisher House in the city, which had commanded a valuation of over Rs 150 crore initially, but could not be auctioned even at the fourth round. Though both the parties -- the 17-bank consortium led by SBI and the buyer actor-producer Sachiin Joshi, who owns Viiking Media, refused to confirm the deal, sources said the villa in north Goa has finally been sold to Joshi for Rs 73.01 crore, far less than the reserve price the bankers set at upwards of Rs 90 crore for auctions, which failed thrice.
“Secured creditors have the right to go for a private treaty if the auction route fails. With this, it seems the jinx over the sale of KFA properties is over. The villa was sold through a bilateral agreement earlier this week for Rs 73.01 crore to actor-producer Sachiin Joshi,” a source who is aware of the development told PTI. The villa, spread over 12,350 sq ft or three acres at Candolim (on the way to Fort Aguada), was legally owned by United Breweries Holdings, the parent of the airline. The lenders had taken physical possession of the villa in May 2016.
The lenders' bid to auction trademarks, including the brand value of the Kingfisher logo, in August 2016, too, was unsuccessful. The reserve price for the brands was set at Rs 330 crore, which is not even a tenth of the Rs 4,000 crore valuation it commanded when offered as collateral. Asked if a similar route will be followed to dispose of Kingfisher House in the city, which was once the headquarters of the airline, the source said with the sale of the villa, at least a process has been initiated.