Telecom operator Jio has offered to deposit Rs 3,720 crore in an escrow account to complete the acquisition of Reliance Infratel which is in liquidation.
Billionaire Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani, led by Jio, launched a Rs 3,720 crore bid in November 2019 to acquire the tower and fiber assets of the indebted subsidiary of his younger brother Anil Ambani, a company run by Reliance Communications.
Jio’s subsidiary, Reliance Projects and Property Management Services, in an application to NCLT last month, said the company is committed and willing to implement Reliance Infratel’s resolution plan, which has been approved by the creditors’ committee earlier.
Jio said the delay in acquiring the assets of RITL (Reliance Infratel Ltd) due to disputes between creditors would deteriorate the value of the assets.
“In order to avoid any further delay, the plaintiff proposes to deposit the full amount of the resolution in an account with the State Bank of India, as ordered by this Honorable Court in the Plan Approval Order”, said Jio’s arm in a new request before NCLT Bombay.
RITL owns fiber assets of approximately 1.78 lakh kilometers of road and 43,540 mobile towers across the country.
RITL is the holding company for the tower and fiber assets of RCOM.
Reliance Project & property Management Services Limited, a subsidiary of Jio, and the successful resolution applicant for RITL, has filed a new application in the NCLT Mumbai to complete the acquisition process.
The funds will be distributed among the lenders once the dispute among creditors over the distribution of resolution funds has been resolved among the lenders.
SBI and a few other banks, including Doha Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and Emirates Bank, are engaged in a legal battle over the distribution of the funds. The case is pending before the Supreme Court.
Doha Bank had challenged the qualification of the claims of indirect creditors of RITL, as financial creditors, by the resolution professional.
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