Reliance Jio Receives NCLT Nod For Reliance Infratel Acquisition As per reports, the NCLT asked Jio to deposit INR 3720 crore in the State Bank of India (SBI) escrow account to complete the acquisition of RCOM's tower and fibre assets
By Teena Jose
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Reliance Jio, on Monday, has reportedly received an approval from the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) for acquisition of the Anil Ambani-led Reliance Infratel (RITL), which owns tower and fibre assets of Reliance Communications (RCOM). As per reports, the tribunal asked Jio to deposit INR 3720 crore in the State Bank of India (SBI) escrow account to complete the acquisition of RCOM's tower and fibre assets.
On November 6, Jio had proposed to deposit INR 3720 crore in an escrow account to complete the acquisition of RITL. It also made the tribunal to speed up the acquisition of Reliance Infratel as the delay in acquisition of RITL assets will deteriorate the value of assets.
As per reports, Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani-led Jio placed a bid of INR 3720 crore in November 2019 to acquire tower and fibre assets of a debt-ridden subsidiary of Anil Ambani-managed firm Reliance Communications. The committee of creditors has already approved the resolution plan by Jio on March 4, 2020, with a 100 per cent vote.
The company sought that it should be allowed to deposit the total resolution amount in an account with SBI and direct the parties involved, that upon such deposit, the resolution plan shall stand implemented and the applicant shall acquire ownership and control of RITL in terms of the resolution plan, as per a report by TNIE.
Reliance Project and property Management Services Limited, the successful resolution applicant for Reliance Infratel Ltd (RITL), had moved a fresh application in the NCLT Mumbai to complete the acquisition process. It is believed that the funds will be distributed amongst the lenders once the inter-creditor dispute over the distribution of resolution funds is settled. State Bank of India and banks including Doha Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, and Emirates Bank are engaged in a legal battle over the distribution of funds. The matter is pending before the Supreme Court.
