The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Monday gave its approval to Reliance Jio subsidiary Reliance Projects and Property Management Services for the acquisition of Reliance Infratel (RITL) that owns tower and fibre assets of Reliance Communications.
The NCLT has asked Jio to deposit ₹3,720 crore in the State Bank of India (SBI) escrow account to complete the acquisition of RCOM's tower and fibre assets.
Earlier this month, Jio had moved the tribunal to speed up the acquisition of Reliance Infratel.
It sought from the tribunal that it should be allowed to “deposit the total resolution amount in an account with SBI" and direct the parties involved, “that upon such deposit, the resolution plan shall stand implemented and the applicant shall acquire ownership and control of RITL in terms of the resolution plan."
On 6 November, Jio had proposed to deposit ₹3,720 crore in an escrow account to complete the acquisition of RITL, which is undergoing an insolvency resolution process.
Jio bids to acquire RCom assets
Back in November 2019, billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Jio placed a bid of ₹3,720 crore to acquire tower and fibre asset of debt-ridden subsidiary of his younger brother Anil Ambani-managed firm Reliance Communications.
The Committee of Creditors has already approved the resolution plan by Jio on March 4, 2020 with a 100 per cent vote.
As per an application moved by Reliance Projects and Property Management Services, a subsidiary of Jio, due to the pendency of the proceedings over the distribution of the amount and issuance of 'no dues' certificate, implementation of the resolution plan is delayed.
"Such delay is causing severe harm to the interest of the corporate debtor (Reliance Infratel) as well as the resolution applicant (Jio)," it submitted before NCLT last month.
Jio said the delay in acquisition of RITL assets due to inter-creditor disputes will deteriorate the value of assets.
RITL has fibre assets of around 1.78 lakh route kilometers and 43,540 mobile towers across the country.
RITL is the holding company for tower and fibre assets of RCOM.
Reliance Project & property Management Services Limited, the successful resolution applicant for Reliance Infratel Ltd (RITL), had moved a fresh application in the NCLT Mumbai to complete the acquisition process.
The funds will be distributed amongst the lenders once the inter-creditor dispute over the distribution of resolution funds is settled.
SBI and banks including – Doha Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, and Emirates Bank – are engaged in a legal battle over the distribution of funds.
The matter is pending before the apex court.
Doha Bank had challenged the classification of claims from the indirect creditors of RITL as the financial creditors by the resolution professional.
With agency inputs
NCLT okays Jio's acquisition of Reliance Infratel | Mint - Mint
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