The embarrassing arrest warrant that was issued against Vijay Mallya and others involved in his Kingfisher Airlines, has been withdrawn after the airport in question was paid. This is good news for Mallya, who can now return to India without fear of being arrested, but it may not be such good news in the longer term as other companies who are owed money may conclude that if the only way to get debts settled is to go legal, there may be a blizzard of new legal actions, given the debts that the airline is rumored to have. The planes remain grounded because of a strike by staff who have not been paid for seven months.
Joe, how long do you think it will be until this whole ordeal impacts the FI team?
Interesting timing here – perhaps his presence at the Indian Grand Prix was used as a lever here also?
” after the airport in question was paid.” How did they get paid I wonder, has VJ got other secret funds, or has a flogged a yacht or a mansion?
I’m pretty sure he keeps his own money seperate from that of his companies – I’m sure in years to come when people are unpicking the collapse of his companies, they’ll come across massive dividend payments over the years.
So far so good. Waiting for the next chapter. I hope the police stays out the race track.
I can’t believe how short sighted all this is! I think that F1 can learn (yeah right) from reading this.http://www.gordonkirby.com/categories/columns/theway/2012/the_way_it_is_no352.html.
Pat Patrick is also getting things moving with Natural Gas and the manufacturers are coming on board. Only a slight difference with F1.
Problem with natural gas is the production, which tends to be highly toxic due to the nature of the gases extraction.
It might be “purer” once in use, but the method by which it is obtained leaves an awful lot to be desired.
Mallya needs to pay his employees before putting more money into F1.
Try telling him that.
Everyone is talking and looking at the airline and booze business, plus the 2 corp. jets and classic car collection and a game park, and the floating Gin Palace. But the one business people are forgetting about is the fertiliser business he owns, and so far, from what we know, there is no cross over debt on this company between others within his “group”. The reason it seems, is this isn’t a very glamorous piece of his “empire”, but profitable, not so great on the cash flow, but still profitable. It is old and low Tec, so maybe been over looked.
The word is he has substantial sums in the UAE and Switzerland for a rainy day. One thinks the clouds are starting to come.
I read one financial paper in India which reported that the shares in the fertilizer company were all pledged but I don’t know if that is the case.
It has been passed around on the Q/T to see if someone would be interested in acquiring it, free from any debts. Has low cash flow, but has a good value. None of the shares have been pledged, as per the documents in circulation right now on the possible sale of it. Its sale would only cover a very small portion of the debt, just a few months of the interest bill on the airline debt. So small amount in reality, not a game changer per say
That is fascinating! I work for a complete megalomaniac or at least a control freak whose father (now dead) build a very, very successful business empire based on ‘shitty’ core process. Hard/dirty work but hugely profitable even when it’s core customer industries are on a downturn. In public and within the group it’s a dirty secret which part generates the profits. It’s AMAZING how much rent and consultancy fees this ‘small’ part has to pay to the group but that’s accounting.
This part of VJ’s empire is probably his personal/family’s cash-cow and intentionally kept separate from the other activities.
Always pays to be good at something nobody wants to do. Like getting team kit to race meets
I think the old saying “where there’s muck there’s brass/money” is misleading: it’s not finding a gold mine, so much as things that disappear into the background are more easily tied to long contracts. Do what people forget about well . .
I guess you’re unhappy Joe….
You guess wrong. I could not give a toss about Mallya one way or the other. He will get what he deserves. I do however object to people like you who jump to stupid conclusions.