Vijay Mallya's Kingfisher Villa in Goa sold for Rs 73 crore finally

After three failed auctions, banks have finally managed to sell the Kingfisher Villa in Goa belonging to the troubled businessman Vijay Mallya to a city-based actor for Rs 73 crore through a private treaty.

New Delhi: Vijay Mallya's Kingfisher Villa in Goa has been finally sold for Rs 73 crore after many failed attempts.

As per media reports, the purchase of sea-facing property in Candolim has been made by Viking Media and Entertainment owned by actor-businessman Sachiin Joshi.

However, State Bank of India (SBI) hasn't disclosed name of the buyer yet.

Kingfisher Airlines' two prime assets, Kingfisher House in the city and Kingfisher Villa in Goa, was auctioned by banks to recover their loans to the long-defunct airline started by defaulter businessman Vijay Mallya.

The Villa was once used by Mallya to host lavish parties. The villa, spread over 12,350 sq ft or three acres at Candolim (on the way to Fort Aguada), was legally owned by United Breweries Holdings, the parent of the airline. The lenders had taken physical possession of the villa in May 2016.

The lenders' bid to auction trademarks, including the brand value of the Kingfisher logo, in August 2016, too, was unsuccessful. The reserve price for the brands was set at Rs 330 crore, which is not even a tenth of the Rs 4,000 crore valuation it commanded when offered as collateral.

SBICAPS Trustee is auctioning the properties on behalf of the lenders.

Mallya has been declared a wilful defaulter and is wanted by Indian authorities for default in payment of loans related to Kingfisher Airlines that was grounded in 2012.

He owes over Rs 9,000 crore to lenders like SBI, PNB, IDBI Bank, BoB, Allahabad Bank, Federal Bank and Axis Bank, among others. He left the country on March 3 last year and is currently said to be in the UK.