TRIL terminates agreement to buy out IVRCL road projects

It is not immediately known as to what triggered the exit of TRIL from the deal

Tata firm TRIL Roads Private Limited has terminated the share purchase agreement with Hyderabad-based IVRCL and revoked the bank guarantee to recover the advance of Rs 85 crore paid to the debt-laden infrastructure firm.

In 2013 TRIL Roads had signed a definitive agreement to acquire BoT road projects related to Salem Tollways Limited, Kumarpalyam Tollways Limited and Chengapalli Tollways in Tamil Nadu from IVRCL while both the parties have agreed to extend and revive the key terms of the agreement last year.

IVRCL has informed the stock exchanges about this development on Monday. It was not immediately known as to what triggered the exit of TRIL from the deal though the lack of interest in strategic investor as far as taking the agreement to its logical conclusion was evident in years of delay.

The Hyderabad-based company reiterated that the sale consideration agreed for the divestment was lower than the carrying value of the investment and outstanding advances by Rs 338.78 crore.

Up to March 2017, the debt-laden company had received Rs 85 crore advance from the strategic investor against a bank guarantee as the advance was refundable in case the parties did not proceed with the agreement.

Last year the leaders of IVRCL had initiated strategic debt restructuring (SDR) for the company. The lenders-led management has not yet definitively said if it were able to find a strategic buyer within the prescribed time that expired earlier this year, although it had hinted earlier that it was in talks with one such investor.

Meanwhile, IVRCL's stand alone net loss has widened to Rs 242.86 crore in the quarter ended June 2017, on the back of rising expenses, including the finance costs, despite a surge in revenues. The company's total income stood at Rs 522.66 crore for the quarter under review as compared to Rs 452.69 crore in the year ago period.