Lord Bilimoria steps down as Cobra chairman after repaying creditors

Lord Bilimoria is to step down as chairman of Cobra having paid almost everything back to former creditors of the beer company.
The crossbench peer founded Cobra in 1989 only for the business to collapse in 2009, leaving 340 creditors out of pocket to the tune of more than £70 million.
Bilimoria then teamed up with Molson Coors, the American brewer behind Blue Moon, Carling and Doom Bar, to rescue Cobra via a controversial pre-pack administration.
The peer emerged with a 49.9 per cent stake and became chairman after forming a joint venture with Molson Coors, which was set up to acquire the business from the administrators. The joint venture was established for ten years initially, but then extended in May 2019.
The former CBI president pledged to repay all creditors from his share of subsequent dividend payments. In 2019, he said he was doing his utmost to honour that pledge and would do so “for as long as it takes”, although some investors who took out insurance against the eventuality of the brewer going bust were excluded.
The businessman has now paid back 99 per cent of the £72 million the business owed to creditors, according to CityAM. Billimoria said that Cobra’s robust profits over the past 15 years had allowed him to “settle the creditors and eventually, now at the exit, also be able to look after special people, including my former shareholders”.
He added that the payback to creditors “leaves Cobra Beer with a superb legacy” as well as a “future as one of the most successful beer brands in the world”.
Molson Coors, said: “We’re excited to take full ownership of the brand and look forward to continuing to work with Lord Bilimoria, founder of the Cobra brand, to champion the brand and the wider beer and hospitality industry.”
Bilimoria, who moved to Britain from India when he was 19, came up with the idea for Cobra while studying law at Cambridge. He felt that lagers were too gassy and wanted to design a brand that would be easier to drink with food. After contracting a brewery in India to develop his beer, the first crates of Cobra were shipped out to Britain in June 1990.
In those days Bilimoria would drive round to Indian restaurants providing samples of the new beer and persuading curry houses to stock it. As well as becoming associated with curry, the brand also became recognised for its distinctive, large bottles.