“I am hanging in there till I get what I deserve,” says Vikram Bakshi, Director, Connaught Plaza Restaurants Pvt Ltd, as he battles it out with the American giant McDonald’s for “an honourable exit”.

Bakshi and McDonald’s have taken their corporate war to arbitration now, while the two are still fighting it out at the Company Law Board (CLB).

Connaught Plaza Restaurants is an equal joint venture between Bakshi and McDonald’s for operations in Northern and Eastern India. It is one of the last joint ventures the American firm has globally (the only other being in China).

“It (arbitration) has just started in London and is at the initial stage with arbitrators from both sides seeking information. Real arbitration will start at the middle of next year,” Bakshi told BusinessLine .

The American firm has resorted to arbitration, alleging that Bakshi has defaulted in business.

“What is surprising is that the allegation of default was made after I was removed as the MD of the joint venture… I am prepared for an honourable exit, but the valuation has to be fair,” he said.

In 2013, Bakshi moved CLB on grounds that McDonald’s has wrongfully removed him from the post.

The next hearing at the CLB is on Tuesday.

The Indian partner is expected to continue with its arguments and the American firm is likely to make a counter-offer to the buyout proposal.

Bakshi has been arguing that “all options have been given to McDonald’s – takeover by the Indian JV partner as well as selling stake of the Indian partner to the American entity – but on conditions of fair valuation done by a third party valuer.”

According to the Indian partner, the true valuation that includes the assets puts Bakshi’s share at ₹1,800 crore, while the American entity has put it at ₹120 crore.

Bakshi is aware that if he takes over the business, he will lose the ‘McDonald’s’ brand. “I am ready to buy the Americans’ stake in the JV on the basis of net asset value. How I run the business thereafter is up to me,” he added.

In fact, Bakshi, in his submissions before the CLB, had argued for re-instating him as the managing director, and after 18-24 months, the joint venture could tap the Indian capital market.

“Whatever price the IPO opens at, I will transfer 25 per cent of my stake to the American firm on that. I can sell the remaining 25 per cent at a later date. But McDonald’s was not agreeable to this suggestion as well,” he said.

With the fate of the joint venture uncertain, the business has taken a hit. “We are just about surviving financially and there have been senior level exits,” he added. In the absence of a regular Managing Director, the Board of the joint venture is running the day-to-day operations. There are four directors, including one whole-time director, who is Bakshi’s wife Madhurima Bakshi.

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