By Neelansh Sharma
Despite the unwonted circumstances, a long due revival of the fallen airway giant Jet Airways spearheaded by a consortium of Murari Lal Jalan and London based Kalrock Capital has been a constant buzz in the fin-town. There is a very little information available about the new owner of Jet Airways, but we know he began his journey from Kolkata during 1980s through his family business of paper trading. When Jalan found success in paper trading business he went to photograph business i.e. Photo Imaging and distribution of its equipment. Talking about recent times, he is based in Dubai with his investments in multiple sectors like- mining, trading, construction, dairy, tourism and even global industrial works. Jalan is said to be totally inexperienced in what he is doing because there is very little information on how he became rich and was able to win the bid. He is a new face in the market both India and abroad, the mystery man has succeeded in staying hidden till the last minute. Although he has ventured into Russia, UAE and Uzbekistan yet he remains unknown to us in many ways.
In order to expand his paper business in 2003, Jalan acquired Kolkata-based Kanoi Paper and Industries and renamed it to Agio Paper. The company was facing a lawsuit from government agencies in 2010, for pollution-related issues and the work of the company has stopped since. When the paper plans got backfired, he decided to jump into real estate and healthcare sector.
Jalan has a great impact on the well-being of Uzbekistan. The Republic of Uzbekistan gained independence in 1991 and began its transition to a market economy. The annual GDP of growth of Uzbekistan has exceeded 8% over the last 11 years and Jalan remains a part of the country’s stories because of its steps towards the openness and foreign trade. He is contributing to the development of Namangan, a land of investment opportunities in many different sectors.
The Patanjali Ayurved owned by Baba Ramdev is said to have some connection with Jalan previously. There are documents with Indian Ministry of Corporate Affairs which show that the company of Murari Lal would be involved in distribution and marketing of ayurvedic products. Despite of this information there was no opening of the company and this was never cleared if or not the two were working together.
Kalrock is a global firm operating in financial advisory and alternative asset management, managing significant partners’ assets across a number of clearly defined and diversified strategies and single investments, with focus on private markets. They are mainly active in the following three verticals: Real Estate, Venture Capital and Special Situations.
Where Jalan has a fractured foot into the airways market owing to his inexperience, Kalrock comes in as the crutches with members like Manoj Madnani and John Oram have looked at logistics and cargo while working for Polish billionaire Jan Kulczyk. Kalrock’s plan is to infuse Rs 380 crore in phases in the first two years and another Rs 580 crore in years three to five. They are also willing to give collateral of Rs 250 crore as security and have promised cash to lenders from year three onwards irrespective of what happens to the airline. Lenders are being offered 9.5% equity during the restructuring period.
If this symbiotic relationship works smoothly we can expect the airlines to be in the usual bloom in the foreseeable future.