Vijay Mallya-led Kingfisher Airlines said on Thursday that it had sold 5.68 per cent stake to the State Bank of India (SBI), valued at around Rs 180 crore, on a preferential allotment basis. Incidentally, SBI is the largest lender under the master debt recast plan that the company had accepted in November last year.
The Kingfisher board had approved a debt recast plan under which the second largest airline operator (by market share), would convert some of its debt into equity in its efforts to reduce the interest burden and stem losses. Kingfisher had agreed to convert Rs 1,355 crore worth of loan into shares, besides a plan to convert the founders' debt of up to Rs 648 crore into share capital. The airline had mandated SBI Caps for the debt restructuring.
