Sistema Russia, Telstra Australia, PCCW Hong Kong, Telecom Indonesia had expressed interest in RCom, reports said. RCom had presented a debt resolution plan under which debt was to be converted into controlling stake.
Mumbai : Reliance Communications Ltd has received interest from multiple bidders, including Reliance Jio Infocomm, for 51% stake in the Anil Ambani-led entity, company officials said. On Oct 30, the company, which has debt of over 450 bln rupees, had presented a new debt resolution plan according to which debt of 71 bln rupees was to be converted into controlling stake of 51% to lenders.
Shareholders had already approved debt-to-equity conversion at a recent annual general meeting. Following the stake sale, promoter entities and individual promoters owning 58.84% stake in RCom as on Sep 30 will see their stake fall to 26-27%.
The joint lender forum led by State Bank of India will then look for an external investor to decide on whether to continue with the current management. Media reports Wednesday said the company had received interest from 12 bidders, including telecom companies and private equity firms.
A private TV channel reported that Sistema Russia, Telstra Australia, PCCW Hong Kong, Telecom Indonesia had expressed interest in the “new” Reliance Communications. As part of its plan to cut loss making businesses, Reliance Communications is shutting its 2G and 3G mobile operations, and plans to leverage its 4G operations to improve profitability. The company is also looking to deleverage tower, spectrum and real estate assets, among others, to reduce secured debt to 60 bln rupees. Reliance Jio is also looking at acquiring spectrum from RCom.
