Our Bureau YES Bank has acquired 18.55 per cent stake in troubled tours and travels company Cox and Kings on invocation of pledged shares.

It has also acquired 30 per cent stake in another unlisted travel company Ezeego One Travel & Tours, which is promoted by Cox and Kings.

“We wish to inform you that YES Bank has, pursuant to invocation of pledge acquired shares – 3,27,50,139 equity shares having nominal value of ₹5 a share, constituting 18.55 per cent of the post-issue paid-up share capital, of a listed company, namely, Cox & Kings; and 34,080 equity shares having nominal value of ₹10 per share, constituting 30 per cent of the post-issue paid-up share capital, of an unlisted company, namely, Ezeego One Travel & Tours,” it said in a regulatory filing on Friday.

The shares have been invoked after breach of credit facilities and loans to Ezeego One, YES Bank further said.

The move comes at a time when Cox & Kings has been facing an asset-liability mismatch. In a regulatory filing on July 1, it had announced that its working capital situation was stretched in the last few months, which was further impacted due to its inability to replace short-term loans with long-term loans or regular working capital lines. Some of its bank guarantees are being encashed by IATA.

Subsequently, in filings on July 16 and July 24, Cox & Kings informed the stock exchanges that it has defaulted on commercial paper worth ₹45 crore and then ₹174 crore. It had also defaulted on unsecured commercial paper worth ₹50 crore on June 28.

The International Air Transport Association had also suspended the licence of Cox & Kings for selling tickets as the company continues to grapple with the liquidity crisis.

comment COMMENT NOW