Arun Bhatia Back in news, joins Tatas, AirAsia for JV
Delhi-based businessman Arun Bhatiahas seldom been in the news. But whenever he has, it has made a splash. The last such moment was in 2004 when his son Amit tied the knot with ArcelorMittalchairman LN Mittal's daughter Vanisha in an eye-popping wedding at the Chateau Vaux le Vicomte inFrance after getting engaged at the Palace of Versailles.
So it took a while for the world to realise who Mr Bhatia was when his obscure company Telestra Tradeplacepopped up Wednesday afternoon as one of the partners in the three-way joint venture with the Tatas andAirAsia that plans to start a new airline in India. Telestra will hold 21% stake in the JV while AirAsia promoted by Tony Fernandes will hold 49% and the Tatas the balance 30%.
The Bhatias have an old connection with the AirAsia boss. Amit Bhatia co-owns the English Premier Leaguefootball club Queens Park Rangers with Fernandes and, apparently, the partnership for the airline took off from there.
When ET contacted him, Arun Bhatia refused to participate in the story saying he was not authorised to speak. His older son Aneesh, however, put out a short official statement late in the evening, which said that the deal for the airline emerged through the family's close relationship and alignment of visions with Fernandes, and cited brother Amit's association with Fernandes in the football club.
In Delhi, the senior Bhatias are known as "old hands in the real estate business" — they deal in land and bungalows in and around Lutyens and develop and sell expansive farmhouses on the greener fringes of the city. The family has been in the real estate business for many years, investing in land and buildings. It is also into commodities trading. Not much is known about their other businesses.
Telestra Tradeplace's filings in the Registrar of Companies reveal that as on September 2012, the Bhatia couples owned the entire shareholding of the firm. The company, which was registered in August 2001, had a paid up capital of Rs 1 lakh and it made a profit of Rs 31.09 lakh in the year ended March 2012 as against Rs 52.9 lakh a year ago. The company had invested around Rs 1.5 crore in Cavim Realty, indicating an interest in the real estate business.
Persons, who have known the family for a while, but spoke to ET on anonymity, pegs the value of their land bank in Delhi at over Rs 1,000 crore. One of them said that around a year or two ago, Arun Bhatia had sold a plot of land on Tolstoy Marg near Connaught Place to a prominent business family for over Rs 200 crore. "Real estate is their main cash cow. As prices all over Delhi jumped after the boom, the valuation of their land bank soared," he said.
The Bhatias have significant landholding in other parts of Delhi as well, including in some up-market farmhouse areas like West End Greens and Pushpanjali Farms, where land values today are upwards of Rs 25 crore an acre. "They are an old family from Delhi, wealthy and polished, but very low profile. They created wealth from land and real estate through their construction and development business," said Rudra Dalmia, managing director of Danish bank Saxo Bank India, who has known the family closely.
Amit Bhatia, a Cornell business management graduate, set up Swordfish Investments, a private equity, capital markets and real estate investment firm right after he got married to Mittal's daughter Vanisha in 2004. Known for his love for sports—he manages the Mittal Champions Trust that is nurturing Indian sportspersons for Olympic medals and has interest in English club football.
Industry analysts who did not want to be named said the Bhatias' investment could be a front for AirAsia, which could not take a higher share than 49% in the JV — the maximum limit for FDI allowed in airline companies in India. "It is evident from the fact that they will not take part in the operational aspects of the airline," one of them said. Aneesh Bhatia did not take questions on the issue, requesting all media queries be routed through Fernandes.
(Additional reporting by John Samuel Raja D)
Source : RAVI TEJA SHARMA,John Samuel Raja D
The Bhatias have an old connection with the AirAsia boss. Amit Bhatia co-owns the English Premier League football club Queens Park Rangers with Tony Fernandes.
Delhi-based businessman Arun Bhatiahas seldom been in the news. But whenever he has, it has made a splash. The last such moment was in 2004 when his son Amit tied the knot with ArcelorMittalchairman LN Mittal's daughter Vanisha in an eye-popping wedding at the Chateau Vaux le Vicomte inFrance after getting engaged at the Palace of Versailles.
So it took a while for the world to realise who Mr Bhatia was when his obscure company Telestra Tradeplacepopped up Wednesday afternoon as one of the partners in the three-way joint venture with the Tatas andAirAsia that plans to start a new airline in India. Telestra will hold 21% stake in the JV while AirAsia promoted by Tony Fernandes will hold 49% and the Tatas the balance 30%.
The Bhatias have an old connection with the AirAsia boss. Amit Bhatia co-owns the English Premier Leaguefootball club Queens Park Rangers with Fernandes and, apparently, the partnership for the airline took off from there.
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In Delhi, the senior Bhatias are known as "old hands in the real estate business" — they deal in land and bungalows in and around Lutyens and develop and sell expansive farmhouses on the greener fringes of the city. The family has been in the real estate business for many years, investing in land and buildings. It is also into commodities trading. Not much is known about their other businesses.
Telestra Tradeplace's filings in the Registrar of Companies reveal that as on September 2012, the Bhatia couples owned the entire shareholding of the firm. The company, which was registered in August 2001, had a paid up capital of Rs 1 lakh and it made a profit of Rs 31.09 lakh in the year ended March 2012 as against Rs 52.9 lakh a year ago. The company had invested around Rs 1.5 crore in Cavim Realty, indicating an interest in the real estate business.
Persons, who have known the family for a while, but spoke to ET on anonymity, pegs the value of their land bank in Delhi at over Rs 1,000 crore. One of them said that around a year or two ago, Arun Bhatia had sold a plot of land on Tolstoy Marg near Connaught Place to a prominent business family for over Rs 200 crore. "Real estate is their main cash cow. As prices all over Delhi jumped after the boom, the valuation of their land bank soared," he said.
The Bhatias have significant landholding in other parts of Delhi as well, including in some up-market farmhouse areas like West End Greens and Pushpanjali Farms, where land values today are upwards of Rs 25 crore an acre. "They are an old family from Delhi, wealthy and polished, but very low profile. They created wealth from land and real estate through their construction and development business," said Rudra Dalmia, managing director of Danish bank Saxo Bank India, who has known the family closely.
Amit Bhatia, a Cornell business management graduate, set up Swordfish Investments, a private equity, capital markets and real estate investment firm right after he got married to Mittal's daughter Vanisha in 2004. Known for his love for sports—he manages the Mittal Champions Trust that is nurturing Indian sportspersons for Olympic medals and has interest in English club football.
Industry analysts who did not want to be named said the Bhatias' investment could be a front for AirAsia, which could not take a higher share than 49% in the JV — the maximum limit for FDI allowed in airline companies in India. "It is evident from the fact that they will not take part in the operational aspects of the airline," one of them said. Aneesh Bhatia did not take questions on the issue, requesting all media queries be routed through Fernandes.
(Additional reporting by John Samuel Raja D)
Source : RAVI TEJA SHARMA,John Samuel Raja D
