New Delhi: Vijay Mallya-owned Kingfisher Airlines (KFA) has hit further turbulence with the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) investigating alleged overvaluation of its brand at Rs 4,100, which was aimed at raising bigger loans from banks.
Financial advisory firm Grant Thornton has also come under scanner as it certified the value of KFA at Rs 4,100 crore in 2011, when commercial airlines were piling up losses, a senior official said. Banks are reported to have valued the airline at a mere Rs 160 crore when they carried out their own internal exercise. SFIO will investigate as to how Grant Thornton arrived at such a high valuation.
SFIO is looking into whether the valuation was deliberately inflated to get more funds from banks and siphon off money for purposes other than proposed investment in the airline. While SFIO was already probing KFA for financial irregularities and fund diversion, the agency has widened its ambit to probe the high valuation.
Grant Thornton India told MAIL TODAY on Wednesday that it stands by KFA's brand valuation report and is ready to provide all required information to the authorities. "We fully stand by our brand valuation report, which we believe was appropriate in the context of when it was done and the purpose for which it was done," Grant Thornton said in a statement. "Grant Thornton will obviously be pleased to offer all the information we have in connection with the matter to the appropriate authorities, and support any investigations," the statement added.
17/03/16 Mail Today/Business Today
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Financial advisory firm Grant Thornton has also come under scanner as it certified the value of KFA at Rs 4,100 crore in 2011, when commercial airlines were piling up losses, a senior official said. Banks are reported to have valued the airline at a mere Rs 160 crore when they carried out their own internal exercise. SFIO will investigate as to how Grant Thornton arrived at such a high valuation.
SFIO is looking into whether the valuation was deliberately inflated to get more funds from banks and siphon off money for purposes other than proposed investment in the airline. While SFIO was already probing KFA for financial irregularities and fund diversion, the agency has widened its ambit to probe the high valuation.
Grant Thornton India told MAIL TODAY on Wednesday that it stands by KFA's brand valuation report and is ready to provide all required information to the authorities. "We fully stand by our brand valuation report, which we believe was appropriate in the context of when it was done and the purpose for which it was done," Grant Thornton said in a statement. "Grant Thornton will obviously be pleased to offer all the information we have in connection with the matter to the appropriate authorities, and support any investigations," the statement added.
17/03/16 Mail Today/Business Today
