RCom says holders of USD 300 mn bonds to be repaid via cash, bonds of Global Cloud Xchange

Reliance Communications today said it will repay holders of USD 300 million bonds through a combination of cash and bonds of its overseas firm.

"Reliance Communications (RCOM) bondholders approved the tender and exchange offer of USD 300 million bonds with an overwhelming majority of over 83 per cent, at their meeting held today, 24 August 2018, in London," RCom said in a statement.

Following the offer that has been approved, the bondholders will receive cash proceeds of up to USD 118 million.

"The bondholders will also get USD 55 million bonds to be issued by Global Cloud Xchange Limited (holding Company of GCX), a foreign subsidiary of RCom," the statement added.

The Global Cloud Xchange bonds will be unsecured and carry a coupon of 0.1 per cent with maturity of four years, it added.

Anil Ambani-owned Reliance Communications had yesterday announced the completion of the planned sale of its media convergence nodes (MCNs) and related infrastructure assets, worth Rs 2,000 crore, to Mukesh Ambani-backed Reliance Jio Infocomm (RJIO).

The transaction entailed 248 nodes covering close to 5 million sq ft of area, used for hosting the telecom infrastructure, all of which now stands transferred to Jio.

The company had recently also reinstated bank guarantees worth Rs 774 crore with the telecom department ahead of the timelines set by the telecom tribunal and had emphasised that its Rs 25,000 crore asset sale plans are "on track".

Last year, Reliance Communications signed a pact with Reliance Jio for sale of wireless spectrum, tower, fiber and MCN assets - the proceeds of which were to be used to reduce debt.

The deal announced in December 2017, packed in 122.4 MHz of 4G spectrum in the 800/900/1800/2100 MHz bands, over 43,000 towers, 1,78,000 kilometres of fiber and 248 media convergence nodes. The nodes' sale completion announced yesterday marked the initial tranche of the planned, larger deal.