Reliance, Bharti Airtel, 2 others bid for 3 Anil Ambani group companies

11 offers submitted for RCom, Reliance Telecom and Reliance Infratel.

Business Standard : Four companies, including Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance group and Bharti Airtel, on Monday collectively submitted 11 bids for three Anil Ambani group companies, which are up for sale as going concerns as part of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) process.

The three companies for sale are Reliance Communications (RCom), Reliance Telecom (which holds the spectrum), and Reliance Infratel (which controls the tower and fibre assets). RCom also owns real estate and enterprise businesses.

The bids were opened by the committee of creditors, which held a meeting that continued until late night on Monday in Mumbai. It will meet again on Friday to discuss and possibly finalise the winning bids for the three companies

The value of the financial bids as well as which companies they have bid for, however, could not be ascertained.

Keep Reading : Market News

The two other bidders include Varde Partners and Delhi-based U V Asset Reconstruction Company (UVRCL). The latter had earlier won its sole bid for the Aircel group (which was also under the IBC) for Rs 150 crore. However, it is unclear as to whether UVRCL will eventually bring in a telecom or infrastructure partner to join in later. A Reliance Jio spokesperson did not respond to a query and an e-mail to UVARCL remained unanswered.

Under the current regulatory rules, Reliance Jio (which is not a listed entity) acquiring RCom (a listed entity) would require the Mukesh Ambani firm to merge with the latter. However, based on public pronouncements, this is not a possibility — Mukesh Ambani had made it clear that he will take Reliance Jio public through an IPO some time. Sources say that one other alternative would be to delist RCom, as then there would not be any regulatory issues in a merger between the two unlisted companies. Another alternative would be to float a special purpose vehicle to buy the firms.

Bharti Airtel had already given a bid on November 13, the earlier deadline for the bids. But the RP on the request of Reliance had extended the bid deadline by 10 days. The telco protesting against the extension had decided to withdraw its previous bid.

While Bharti Airtel spokesperson did not respond to a query, in its earlier offer it had made a conditional bid for the spectrum. The bid, it said, include that the overall consideration will primarily be by way of the deferred spectrum payables to the government being passed on to the company on terms and schedules applicable to such deferred payments.