Franklin MF sees Rs 616 cr default from Essel Infra in four schemes

Mutual fund manager appoints legal counsel, says it is considering ways to maximise recovery value

Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund (FT MF), in an update on Friday, disclosed default of maturity payments of Rs 616 crore on the zero-coupon bond exposures to Essel Infraprojects. These debt papers were held at varied exposure levels in four of the six schemes being wound-up by the fund house.

The schemes holding the non-convertible debentures (NCDs) included Franklin Low Duration Fund (exposure of Rs 44 crore), Short Term Income Plan (Rs 29 crore), Credit Risk Fund (Rs 16 crore) and Dynamic Accrual Fund (Rs 4 crore), which are currently under the wind-up process.

The fund house pointed out that it