Kingfisher promoter holding down to lowest after Air Deccan acquisition
02 Jul 2012
A debt fund operated by the Kolkata-based Srei Infrastructure Finance today claimed to have bought out the entire exposure of ICICI Bank, worth around Rs430 crore, in the crippled Kingfisher Airlines.
Confirming the deal over phone to PTI, Srei Infra Finance group chief financial officer Sanjeev K Sancheti described the asset as ''a good buy as it is a fully secured debt''.
The news agency quoted an ICICI Bank spokesperson it contacted as saying that it had recovered the entire debt exposure of Rs430 crore and currently did not have any debt exposure to the carrier.
The second-largest lender in the country now holds around 3 per cent stake in the airline, down from the earlier 5.68 per cent stake after conversion of the bonds the airline had issued its lenders following the November 2010 debt recast.
A little of 21 per cent of the airline is now held by 14 of the 18 lenders to Kingfisher.
The Vijay Mallya promoted, Bangalore-based carrier has had to struggle to operate for over a year now as it had not been able to raise even working capital from banks following its over Rs7,500 crore loan turning an NPA from January.