$717-mn loan case: China banks will have to move Indian courts against ADAG

Anil Ambani, chairman of the ADA group, can challenge the order by the Commercial Division of the High Court of England

Anil Ambani, chairman of the ADA group, can challenge the order by the Commercial Division of the High Court of England and Wales, London, which said a personal guarantee disputed by Ambani is binding on him, say corporate lawyers.

At the same time, Chinese banks will have to move Indian courts to enforce the order in India, they said. The British court on Friday asked Ambani to pay nearly $717 million to three Chinese banks within 21 days. The banks are pursuing the recovery of funds as part of a loan agreement with Reliance Communications.

The ADA group has said Ambani is seeking legal advice and the UK court order will have no bearing on the operations of its other group companies: Reliance Infrastructure, Reliance Power, and Reliance Capital. Corporate lawyers said Ambani could challenge the UK court order on grounds of “conclusiveness” under Section 13 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908.

“Before enforcing a foreign judgment or decree, the party enforcing it must ensure that the foreign judgment or decree passes the tests mentioned in the CPC. If the foreign judgment or decree fails any of these tests, it will not be regarded as conclusive and hence not enforceable in India,” said Rajiv Bansal, Senior Advocate…Read More

Bharti Airtel bids for RCom spectrum, Jio seeks deadline extension

It is believed that apart from Bharti Airtel and Bharti Infratel, there are four players that have made a bid

‘The Bharti group, through two of its companies, on Tuesday made a conditional bid for the spectrum of Reliance Communications (RCom) even as Reliance Jio asked for an extension of the November 12 deadline to make an offer under insolvency proceedings.

The interim resolution professional (RP) had invited prospective companies to make a bid for the company as a going concern with assets and businesses like telecom towers, spectrum, a fibre network, real estate, and an enterprise business, in order to recover debts of more than Rs 33,000 crore of secured creditors.

It is believed that apart from Bharti Airtel and Bharti Infratel, there are four players that have made a bid. They include US-based Varde Partners, a private equity fund that has a joint venture in India with the Aditya Birla group. But the joint venture has not made the bid, sources say. An e-mail query to Varde Partners did not elicit any response.

A Bharti spokesperson, in response to an e-mail query, said: “A conditional bid has been made primarily for the spectrum, which is a precious asset. Bid conditions include that the overall consideration will primarily be by way of the deferred spectrum payable to the government being passed on to us on terms and schedules applicable to such deferred payments”.

Reliance Jio, according to sources, has asked for an extension of the deadline by 10 days. However, it is not clear as to whether the RP, Anish Nanavaty, has granted it, and queries to him did not elicit any response.

Ericsson teaches Anil Ambani and India’s nascent bankruptcy system a lesson

In recovering $80 million from tycoon Anil Ambani, the Swedish company’s lawyers played the nascent bankruptcy system expertly

Anil Ambani’s not going to jail after all, and Ericsson AB got its money. The Swedish company’s lawyers should take a bow. While the future of the Indian tycoon’s shrinking empire remains shrouded in uncertainty, at least questions over his near-term living arrangements got answered on Monday. Ambani thanked his “respected” elder brother, Mukesh, and sister-in-law, Nita, after avoiding a three-month prison term. India’s richest man showed up just in time to help his younger sibling who has, in a little over a decade, lost 99 percent of his $31 billion net worth.

The local unit of Ericsson had accepted a Rs 5.5 billion ($80 million) settlement to keep its petition for Reliance Communications Ltd.’s $7 billion bankruptcy in abeyance. The telecom equipment vendor subsequently won a contempt-of-court order to put Chairman Anil Ambani in jail if the long-delayed payment – which he personally guaranteed – wasn’t received by Tuesday.

When a history of the early years of India’s 2016 bankruptcy code is written, Ericsson’s lawyers will deserve a glowing mention. For an unsecured creditor to walk away with a 48 percent recovery of its claim – while secured lenders wait patiently for RCom to sell its spectrum, redevelop its land assets and pay them something – shows that the Swedish firm played its cards well…

Mukesh Ambani bails out Anil in Ericsson payout case day before SC deadline

RCom cleared the entire dues to Ericsson India to purge the contempt of a Supreme Court order

Company News: Billionaire Mukesh Ambani stepped in to bail out younger brother Anil Ambani by helping him repay Reliance Communications’ (RCom’s) dues to Ericsson. The last-minute rescue spares the younger Ambani a three-month jail term for contempt of court.

RCom on Monday cleared the entire dues to Ericsson India to purge the contempt of a Supreme Court order. The debt-ridden company had already paid Rs 118 crore of the Rs 550-crore dues. In addition, the company had paid around Rs 3 crore in penalties to Ericsson.

“My sincere and heartfelt thanks to my respected elder brother, Mukesh, and Nita for standing by me during these trying times and demonstrating the importance of staying true to our strong family values by extending this timely support,” said Anil Ambani in a media statement. RCom had time until Tuesday to make the payment, failing which Anil Ambani, its chairman, would have had to serve a three-month jail term, according to the court’s order.

“My family and I are grateful we have moved beyond the past, and are deeply grateful and touched with this gesture,” he added. On February 20, the apex court had held Ambani and two others guilty of contempt for wilfully violating its order by not paying Rs 550-crore dues to Ericsson..

Asset sale to Jio at risk from govt’s Rs 29-bn demand, RCom tells SC

Govt refuses to approve RCom’s spectrum sale to Jio until a bank guarantee is given by either firm

BS | Billionaire Anil Ambani’s Reliance Communications (RCom) told Supreme Court on Monday that its asset sale to Reliance Jio Infocomm may not go through if approvals aren’t in place by mid-December, putting at risk planned debt repayments by the distressed company.

The government, however, reiterated its stand in the Supreme Court that it could not grant an approval to RCom for spectrum sale to Jio until a bank guarantee of Rs 29.4 billion was given to it by either company toward spectrum usage charges.|Rcom Asset Sale

RCom, on the other hand, said that it was not in a position to furnish the said bank guarantee and that it had already given land worth nearly Rs 14 billion as security for the government’s dues. But the government refused to use the land given to it as security by RCom and said it would prefer a bank guarantee.

“If the spectrum sale is not approved, banks will also not get anything,” Kapil Sibal, a lawyer representing RCom, said in court said on Monday.

The top court was hearing a plea moved by the department of telecommunications (DoT) on Monday. In its petition, DoT told the Supreme Court that the Centre was looking for some kind of security from the company before it could allow the spectrum sale.

Click here: Business Standard

Asset sale to Jio at risk from govt’s Rs 29-bn demand, RCom tells SC

Govt refuses to approve RCom’s spectrum sale to Jio until a bank guarantee is given by either firm

BS | Billionaire Anil Ambani’s Reliance Communications (RCom) told Supreme Court on Monday that its asset sale to Reliance Jio Infocomm may not go through if approvals aren’t in place by mid-December, putting at risk planned debt repayments by the distressed company.

The government, however, reiterated its stand in the Supreme Court that it could not grant an approval to RCom for spectrum sale to Jio until a bank guarantee of Rs 29.4 billion was given to it by either company toward spectrum usage charges.|Rcom Asset Sale

RCom, on the other hand, said that it was not in a position to furnish the said bank guarantee and that it had already given land worth nearly Rs 14 billion as security for the government’s dues. But the government refused to use the land given to it as security by RCom and said it would prefer a bank guarantee.

“If the spectrum sale is not approved, banks will also not get anything,” Kapil Sibal, a lawyer representing RCom, said in court said on Monday.

The top court was hearing a plea moved by the department of telecommunications (DoT) on Monday. In its petition, DoT told the Supreme Court that the Centre was looking for some kind of security from the company before it could allow the spectrum sale.

Click here: Business Standard

Asset sale to Jio at risk from govt’s Rs 29-bn demand, RCom tells SC

Govt refuses to approve RCom’s spectrum sale to Jio until a bank guarantee is given by either firm

BS | Billionaire Anil Ambani’s Reliance Communications (RCom) told Supreme Court on Monday that its asset sale to Reliance Jio Infocomm may not go through if approvals aren’t in place by mid-December, putting at risk planned debt repayments by the distressed company.

The government, however, reiterated its stand in the Supreme Court that it could not grant an approval to RCom for spectrum sale to Jio until a bank guarantee of Rs 29.4 billion was given to it by either company toward spectrum usage charges.|Rcom Asset Sale

RCom, on the other hand, said that it was not in a position to furnish the said bank guarantee and that it had already given land worth nearly Rs 14 billion as security for the government’s dues. But the government refused to use the land given to it as security by RCom and said it would prefer a bank guarantee.

“If the spectrum sale is not approved, banks will also not get anything,” Kapil Sibal, a lawyer representing RCom, said in court said on Monday.

The top court was hearing a plea moved by the department of telecommunications (DoT) on Monday. In its petition, DoT told the Supreme Court that the Centre was looking for some kind of security from the company before it could allow the spectrum sale.

Click here: Business Standard