Vijay Mallya to sell UB Group to rescue ailing Kingfisher?

Bangalore, Mar 29: In a bid to rescue the debt-ridden Kingfisher Airlines, Vijay Mallya is likely to sell a part of his stake in his flagship liquor business to Dutch brewery giant the Heineken, reports

Report further revealed that Mallya was close to selling 13 per cent of United Breweries (UB) Ltd, worth about $370 million at current market prices to Heineken. Most interestingly, the deal could give complete control of United Breweries to Heineken.

Meanwhile, senior officials from Kingfisher airlines slammed speculative media reports saying Mallya has not decided any knock off his shares in United Breweries.

The India's second largest private airlines has been suffering from massive financial crisis since last year with a total debt of Rs 7,057 crore. The carrier's management have repeatedly assured that it is in talks with potential investors, but nothing has materialised to date.

The carrier has slashed its flight schedule and grounded most of its fleet as it has been unable to pay staff. Moreover, airlines has been accused of taking service tax from its customers by selling air tickets and not paying it to the department due to which the service tax department has also blocked over 40 bank accounts for non-payment of dues worth Rs 76 crore of ailing airlines.

The Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh had already made it clear that govt will not bail out struggling carrier and it was the responsibility of promoter Vijay Mallya to marshal funds to bring the carrier out of the financial crisis.

OneIndia News