››GAMBLE THAT DIDN’T WORK FOR KOTHARI,
KANPUR: Flamboyant is the word that aptly describes the promoter of Rotomac Pens Vikram Kothari, who is accused of allegedly defaulting on repayment of loans of Rs 2,919 crore from seven public sector banks.
“He is known for his love for cars and star-studded parties. Even in the face of adversities, he didn’t lose flamboyance. While battling odds in last one year, he threw more parties than he did earlier,” Kothari’s friend of 30 years said. People who have done business with him said Kothari had a penchant for cars.
“He would own a popular brand or model before anyone else could lay hands on it. A risktaker, he never shied away from making bold moves,” they said.
However, some of the risks that he took led to his undoing.
“He was a part of a group of 4-5 people who was heavily into dollar trading. It was kind of ‘satta’ (gamble) he was playing and kept losing,” a close friend of Vikram said on condition of anonymity.
“At one point his group lost Rs 1,100 crore in dollar trade of which Rs 400 crore were of Vikram Kothari. This is how and when his empire began disintegrating,” he added.
Vikram’s father Mansukhlal Madhavlal Kothari launched Pan Parag in August 1973 which became a private limited company in 1987.
According to people close to the family, when Vikram Kothari and his brother Deepak Kothari decided to divide the business during the lifetime of their father in 2000, Vikram let his brother keep the flagship brand Pan Parag and ‘Yes’ mineral water.
On his part, he sold out his stakes and kept small Rotomac Pens which he was building against Reynolds pens. The split was unusually peaceful.
Mansukhlal passed away in 2015 at the age of 90.
Vikram diversified into greeting card business to take on Archies by roping in Bollywood actors Salman Khan and Raveena Tandon as brand ambassadors. His business acumen earned him a place on the Air India Board and national award for best exporter from the then PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Company insiders say he further diversified and invested in UP’s first mall, Rave-3, in partnership with a media house. Together they built another mall Rave Moti in Sarvodaya Nagar.
On the family front, one of his daughters is married in Adani family while the other in the family of a saree baron. His son has been married to Archana who comes from an influential business family from Gujarat.
He was going strong till he decided to increase the turnover of Rotomac Group comprising 10 companies from Rs 25 crore to Rs 20,000 crore. He gambled boldly to make it happen.
However, using the loans that he took from banks, Vikram began offshore trading, crude oil trading and forex forwarding which made things worse for him. “He began defaulting on repayment of loans, sold off his share in the city’s biggest and costliest housing project – the Emerald city in Laxman Bagh – to raise funds,” said a chartered accountant familiar with developments.
“Banks started taking over his properties to recover loans. He moved to debt recovery tribunal but lost the case. He, however, secured a stay order from the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) against auction of some of his properties. He went to NCLT declaring himself a defaulter and wanted his properties to be liquidated than being auctioned,” people privy to the developments said.
On Sunday, he also showed up at a high-profile wedding which was attended by top BJP leaders.