Mumbai:
State Bank of India (SBI), the lead banker in Reliance Communications’
asset monetisation plan, has shortlisted consultancy firm Deloitte
as the interim resolution professional (IRP) to manage the bankrupt
telecom operator, despite opposition from some of other lenders, people
aware of the development said. Deloitte has been picked from a list of
30 IRPs, which included Duff & Phelps, RBSA Advisors and BDO, among
others, they told ET.
SBI’s choice may have surprised other members of the committee of creditors (CoC) since Deloitte’s
financial bid for carrying out the resolution was “far higher” than that of its competitors, one of the persons cited earlier said.
SBI is expected to propose Deloitte’s name in the dedicated bankruptcy court on Tuesday. The National Company Law Tribunal is expected to name the IRP proposed by the CoC, as a first step towards resolving the telco’s debt of Rs 46,000 crore.
Email queries sent to Deloitte, SBI, Duff & Phelps, RBSA Advisors and BDO on Monday evening remained unanswered till as of press time.
RCom’s insolvency has been revived in the NCLT after an appellate tribunal vacated a stay on insolvency proceedings against the telco and its two units—Reliance Telecom and Reliance Infratel.
The telco will be the second operator after Aircel in the sector to enter bankruptcy proceedings. Aircel, under a debt of Rs 20,000 crore, is also being managed by Deloitte.
The insolvency case against RCom was admitted in May 2018, and since then, despite a stay on the proceedings, the operator has been embroiled in legal tussles with Swedish telecom gear maker Ericsson and the telecom department, among others. When the case was first admitted, the NCLT had named three separate IRPs from RBSA Restructuring Advisors LLP to run RCom and its two units.
The Anil Ambani-owned operator had earlier hoped that it would avoid insolvency with its proposed sale of spectrum, towers, fibre and nodes to Reliance Jio Infocomm (Jio), and a few land parcels to Canadian asset management company Brookfield, for a total of Rs 18,000 crore.
SBI’s choice may have surprised other members of the committee of creditors (CoC) since Deloitte’s
financial bid for carrying out the resolution was “far higher” than that of its competitors, one of the persons cited earlier said.
SBI is expected to propose Deloitte’s name in the dedicated bankruptcy court on Tuesday. The National Company Law Tribunal is expected to name the IRP proposed by the CoC, as a first step towards resolving the telco’s debt of Rs 46,000 crore.
Email queries sent to Deloitte, SBI, Duff & Phelps, RBSA Advisors and BDO on Monday evening remained unanswered till as of press time.
RCom’s insolvency has been revived in the NCLT after an appellate tribunal vacated a stay on insolvency proceedings against the telco and its two units—Reliance Telecom and Reliance Infratel.
The telco will be the second operator after Aircel in the sector to enter bankruptcy proceedings. Aircel, under a debt of Rs 20,000 crore, is also being managed by Deloitte.
The insolvency case against RCom was admitted in May 2018, and since then, despite a stay on the proceedings, the operator has been embroiled in legal tussles with Swedish telecom gear maker Ericsson and the telecom department, among others. When the case was first admitted, the NCLT had named three separate IRPs from RBSA Restructuring Advisors LLP to run RCom and its two units.
The Anil Ambani-owned operator had earlier hoped that it would avoid insolvency with its proposed sale of spectrum, towers, fibre and nodes to Reliance Jio Infocomm (Jio), and a few land parcels to Canadian asset management company Brookfield, for a total of Rs 18,000 crore.
No comments:
Post a Comment