India’s Supreme Court has cleared Reliance Communications (RCom) to sell its wireless assets to Reliance Jio Infocomm for 250 billion rupees ($3.85 billion), vacating two stay orders on the sell-off, according to TelecomAsia. The court has vacated a stay on the sale of spectrum, media convergence nodes and real estate, and has directed the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) to vacate the stay on the sale of the operator’s tower and fiber assets, RCom announced.
In an interim order, the NCLAT has complied with the Supreme Court’s direction, but will require the proceeds from the tower and fiber asset sale to be deposited into an escrow account.
RCom arranged to sell off its wireless business to Reliance Jio Infocomm as part of a radical debt reduction program. But the tribunal issued an order prohibiting the sale of assets without court permission in response to an insolvency petition from Ericsson, seeking a recovery of around $177.8 million in unpaid dues, TelecomAsia reported.
According to RCom, minority investors are making a claim for part of the proceeds of the sale of its tower and fiber assets, a claim that the operator fully disputes.
April 10, 2018
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