NCLT appoints IRPs for Rcom, units; stock slumps

INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The insolvency tribunal has named three separate interim resolution professionals (IRP) from RBSA Restructuring Advisors LLP to run Reliance
Communications (RCom) and its two units, Reliance Telecom Ltd
(RTL) and Reliance Infratel, as part of the bankruptcy proceedings against the Anil Ambani-owned companies. In three separate but similar
orders, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Friday appointed Pardeep Kumar Sethi for RCom, Manish D Kaneria for Reliance Infratel
Prakash Kumar, said in one of the orders. With the IRPs taking charge, RCom can no longer sell assets on its own
It had signed a deal to sell its spectrum, towers, fibre and switching nodes to Reliance Jio for some Rs18,000 crore to pare debt
RCom, under a debt of Rs 46,000 crore, was dragged into insolvency proceedings after the NCLT admitted three petitions filed by Ericsson
against the telco and its two units. The Swedish equipment maker, represented by senior lawyer Anil Kher during the proceedings, is claiming
were to have started from May 15
The IRP would now have 270 days to come up with a solution to bring RCom back, failing which the company could face liquidation
RCom became the second telco after Aircel to be admitted to bankruptcy proceedings. The appointments of the IRPs came on a day RCom
advanced stage of discussions to expeditiously resolve commercial issues
Thursday that the latest settlement amount being discussed was around Rs700 to Rs800 crore, after Ericsson rejected an initial offer of
Rs400-500 crore
BSE after it became clear an agreement is still some time away and that IRPs were taking over the company. If a pact is reached, the two
parties would need to approach a higher court to exit the insolvency process against RCom. A settlement outside the insolvency process, if
allowed, may help RCom to move ahead with a plan to sell its wireless assets and real estate and repay more than 30 lenders.