Lenders manage to sell Kingfisher Villa as Viiking Media buys property in Rs 73.01-crore private deal
MUMBAI: Lenders led by State Bank of India finally sold the Kingfisher Villa in Goa, once owned by businessman Vijay Mallya, for Rs 73.01 crore. They had failed thrice earlier in auctioning the property.
Movie production company Viiking Media & Entertainment bought the villa in a private deal, senior officials involved in the matter said, in what will mark a small victory for lenders in recovering loans from Mallya. The Goa villa was among the assets pledged to take loans for Mallya's now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines.
Senior SBI officials declined to comment. Actor-producer Sachiin Joshi, who owns Viiking Media, couldn't be contacted for comment.
A consortium of 17 lenders is trying to recover about Rs 9,000 crore that the banks say the airline owes them. Kingfisher House in Mumbai is another high-profile Mallya property lenders are trying to sell.
Sachiin Joshi also owns Goa-based beer brand Kings Beer and has a minority stake in PB Lifestyle, an exclusive licence holder in India for Playboy Enterprises.
Kingfisher Villa, a sea-facing property, had become popular for the lavish parties hosted by Mallya.
It was first placed under the hammer in October 2016 with a reserve price of Rs 85.29 crore. Bids were called again in December with a reserve price of Rs 81 crore and the subsequent auction was held in March 2017, with a reserve price of Rs 73 crore.
The Sarfaesi Act allows banks to cut a private deal to sell the assets of a defaulter if auctions fail twice. But under the rules, the asset should be sold above the last reserve price. In this case, Viiking Media agreed to pay Rs 1 lakh more than the last reserve price.
Movie production company Viiking Media & Entertainment bought the villa in a private deal, senior officials involved in the matter said, in what will mark a small victory for lenders in recovering loans from Mallya. The Goa villa was among the assets pledged to take loans for Mallya's now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines.
Senior SBI officials declined to comment. Actor-producer Sachiin Joshi, who owns Viiking Media, couldn't be contacted for comment.
A consortium of 17 lenders is trying to recover about Rs 9,000 crore that the banks say the airline owes them. Kingfisher House in Mumbai is another high-profile Mallya property lenders are trying to sell.
Sachiin Joshi also owns Goa-based beer brand Kings Beer and has a minority stake in PB Lifestyle, an exclusive licence holder in India for Playboy Enterprises.
Kingfisher Villa, a sea-facing property, had become popular for the lavish parties hosted by Mallya.
It was first placed under the hammer in October 2016 with a reserve price of Rs 85.29 crore. Bids were called again in December with a reserve price of Rs 81 crore and the subsequent auction was held in March 2017, with a reserve price of Rs 73 crore.
The Sarfaesi Act allows banks to cut a private deal to sell the assets of a defaulter if auctions fail twice. But under the rules, the asset should be sold above the last reserve price. In this case, Viiking Media agreed to pay Rs 1 lakh more than the last reserve price.
