Vijay Mallya, Amaron and Jet Airways in news

By Vipin Agnihotri

It has come into the notice of The India Street that Vijay Mallya led Kingfisher Radio is now in the possession of a 45.97 per cent stake in aircraft and air charter operator Deccan Aviation, post the open offer. It is worth mentioning in this regard that Mallya got 27.12 million shares in the open offer made to the shareholders of Deccan Aviation.

Point to be noted here is that the offer came after a preferential allotment of 3.52 million shares was made to UB Holdings, thereby giving the latter a 26 per cent stake in Deccan Aviation- fetching Deccan Aviation Rs 1.55 billion.

Amaron-

Battery maker Amaron has initiated a plan to set up 500 ‘Powerzone’ stores by the end of this year. According to sources, the new concept revolves around retail stores selling economically priced batteries for vehicles and invertors. In addition, the ‘Powerzone’ stores will also sell sourced electronic appliances.

If experts are to be believed, Amaron along with other battery manufacturers is reeling under tremendous cost pressures arising out of the rising cost of raw materials. Therefore, there is hardly a surprise that company is making plans to expand its capacity to 5.5 million units from the present capacity of 3.6 million units by June 2008.

Jet Airways-

Jet Airways is all set to offer comfort and luxury impressive to Jet’s first and premium passengers at the Brussels Airport during their transit period. The lounge is designed by the prominent architecture and design firm SOM. The lounge will take care of the passenger’s entertainment needs via a media wall and a reading room.

Furthermore, passengers will have access to Internet, printer and fax. With such attractive facilities, it’s time for frequent fliers to fly the Jet way.

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Vijay Mallya to Enter Formula One (1) Racing Circuit

Vipin Agnihotri

Kingfisher chairman Vijay Mallya is quite famous for his tongue-in-cheek remarks. Who can forget his quote when asked about why he chose to start an airline after succeeding in liquor business. His answer at that time was, “They both make you fly!”

After giving Indians some unique lessons in flying, Vijay Mallya seems to be speeding up on the race tracks. It has come into the notice of The India Street that Mallya has reportedly invested his personal wealth, worth Rs 5 billion, in the game that the speedsters swears on, Formula 1.

In my opinion, it is quite a risky investment in a careworn Spyker Ferrari racing team, which has witnessed losses of about $29.9 million for the half year ending June 2007. The pivotal factor here is that what will Mallya re-christen his new team as, considering he wouldn’t like to conflict his interests. It is worth mentioning in this regard that Kingfisher Airlines has been sponsoring the Toyota team in the F1 seasons already.

Whatever the case, Vijay Mallya is betting big on going global and entry into F1 circuit seems to be further exhilarating his zeal of gaining a firmer foothold in international gaming scenario.

The main objective of Vijay Mallya is to make his company a force to be reckoned within India as well as abroad. After merging with Shaw Wallace last year, Mallya acquired the Scottish distiller, Whyte & Mackay for $ 1.2 billion in May this year. Apart from that, Vijay Mallya acquired French wine maker Bouvet Laduaby SAS for $ 200 million.

Talking about aviation sector, Vijay Mallya has acquired a controlling 26 per cent stake in low cost carrier Air Deccan for about $ 135 million. It would be interesting to see when teams like BMW, Honda and Toyota haven’t been able to reach the top league and match Ferrari and Mclaren how will team of Vijay Mallya is going to fare in the next F1 season.

The brand image of Vijay Mallya will improve with a F1 entry. I think Vijay Mallya is a perfect strategist who has made Kingfisher a successful airline. At the same time I have some concerns with the kind of infrastructure we have in India, how can Mallya rule F1?

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