Mallya assets to go under hammer

Lenders and tax authorities will put under the hammer next month assets worth over Rs 700 crore of embattled businessman Vijay Mallya’s long-defunct Kingfisher Airlines.

The items waiting for the right bidders are plenty — the erstwhile headquarters of the airline, the Kingfisher House, cars, office furniture, Mallya’s personal jet along with its couches and even a bathrobe, the Kingfisher Villa in Goa and numerous brands and trademarks, including the famed ‘Fly with Good Times’.

This would be the second attempt to auction these assets as part of the efforts to recover thousands of crores worth outstanding dues, after the earlier attempt proved to be a damp squib.

Mallya’s personal jet is being put under the hammer by the service tax department, while other properties will be auctioned by the lenders whose dues from long-grounded Kingfisher Airlines have ballooned to over Rs 9,000 crore, including penal interest. For almost all the properties, the reserve price has been marked down after the earlier attempts failed to attract bidders.

On August 4, the 17-bank consortium, led by the State Bank of India, will re-auction the Kingfisher House in Mumbai at a lower reserve price of Rs 135 crore. In the initial attempt in March, not a single bidder had come forward at the then reserve price of Rs 150 crore.

Banks have also put up some of the movable secured assets worth Rs 13.70 lakh lying at the Kingfisher House for sale. These assets will be auctioned separately on August 25 by SBI Cap Trustee, which possesses these assets on behalf of the lenders.

The items on sale would include eight cars of which the reserve prices have been set differently in the range of Rs 90,000-2.50 lakh. Banks will also auction brands and trademarks of Kingfisher Airlines, including the Kingfisher logo, on August 25.

The other trademarks on sale include Flying Models, Funliner, Fly Kingfisher and Flying Bird Device.

The reserve price for the auction of the brands and trademarks has also been reduced to Rs 330.03 crore from Rs 366.70 crore earlier. Banks will also soon auction the Kingfisher Villa situated in north Goa.

According to sources, the valuation process for the villa is underway, which has come out to be around Rs 90 crore.