RCom achieves full resolution; debt to come down by Rs 25,000 cr

Reliance Group Chairman Anil Ambani on Tuesday said the company has achieved full resolution of Reliance Communications' (RCom) debt reducing it by Rs 25,000 crore, to Rs 6,000 crore.

"We have achieved a resolution that involves Reliance Communications exiting strategic debt recast. Clearly and truly this is a historical achievement for any group. RCOM debt will reduce by Rs 25,000 crore, The entire monetisation process to repay the debt of lenders will be completed by January-March 2018 in a phased manner," Ambani told reporters here.

Reliance Communications had close to Rs 45,000 crore debt on its books in October 2017, he had said. The RCom stock rose sharply on the announcement, closing at 30 per cent high at Rs 21.33.

Saying that going forward Reliance Communications will be a business-to-business (B2B) company, he added the company achieved this debt restructuring by asset monetisation and selling real estate"

Tina Ambani, Jai Anshul Ambani and Jai Anmol Ambani during a press conference in Mumbai | Photo: Kamlesh Pednekar

"The new company will have a debt of Rs 6,000 crore," he said.

The reduction would allow RCom to provide "zero write-offs to all lenders and bondholders."

"There will be no conversion of debt to equity as well," Ambani said.

He said the company had faced a lot of headwinds in the last few months with respect to National Company Law Tribuna".

"It was a challenge...how do you really manage 35 global and Indian banks to come on the same page?" Ambani said.

He said for the new RCom 50 per cent of revenue will come from outside India.

"Reliance Communications will be now one of the strongest enterprise business in India," Ambani added.