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, asset management<\/a> companies and telecom tower operators have also submitted expressions of interest (EoIs), the people said.
“Around 10-12 firms have sent in their expressions of interest. Bharti Airtel and Jio are part of it,” said one of the people. Vodafone Idea, financially the worst off among India’s three private mobile companies, is not on the list of suitors.
Legal Battle a Key Concern
Jio, Airtel and Vodafone Idea didn’t reply to emails seeking comment until press time Sunday. Deloitte, which is managing the court-monitored bankruptcy process of RCom, also didn’t respond to request for comment.
Airwaves in 14 of India’s 22 telecom circles, about 43,000 telecom towers housed under Reliance Infratel and some fibre and real estate assets are up for sale. RCom’s licences for the 800 MHz 4G spectrum will expire in July 2021.
The Anil Ambani-promoted telecom operator, which is now defunct, has Rs46,000 crore of debt. As many as 39 financial creditors have claimed about Rs 49,193 crore from the company. RCom and its units also have hundreds of operational creditors.
Jio had nearly bought RCom’s wireless assets before the Department of Telecommunications red-flagged the deal, citing lack of clarity over who would assume liabilities related to its bandwidth. RCom filed for bankruptcy after it failed to complete the transaction.
Airtel’s interest in the assets underlines the importance of the airwaves to expand its 4G and upcoming 5G coverage, even as it is fighting a bruising battle for market share with Jio.
The battle for the assets could get intense as private equity firms too have been actively seeking deals in the sector. But their interest could be more on assets other than spectrum.
\n \n
“There are major PE players, asset management and tower companies too who have sent in their EoIs. Today, the sector has seen PE firms becoming active players and they will not want to give up the chance to pick up RCom’s assets,” a second person aware of the development said.
Last month, a consortium led by Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management agreed to buy Reliance Industries’ Reliance Jio lnfratel unit in a multi-stage deal. American Tower Corp too has been expanding in India, through successive buyouts of Viom Networks and the captive tower assets held by Vodafone India and Idea Cellular before their merger.
LEGAL CHALLENGES<\/strong>
But for all interested parties, the major looming concern is a legal battle between the telecom department and operators like RCom and Aircel, which too is bankrupt, over the ownership of their most valuable asset: spectrum. The department has previously told the National Company Law Tribunal in the Aircel insolvency case that bankrupt telcos which had not cleared their dues must return their spectrum since that asset belonged to the government. While telcos can trade in the spectrum they acquired through auctions, they must first clear any payment arrears, including spectrum usage charge and one-time spectrum fee, or submit bank guarantees to cover for those, it had said. Both Aircel and RCom haven’t met these requirements that the department had raised.
However, companies still appear to be keen on the assets because the spectrum under the insolvency process will come in far cheaper than in government auctions.
For example, under the now-scrapped deal, Jio was to buy 122 MHz of 800 MHz spectrum for some Rs7,300 crore, besides the towers, before RCom filed for insolvency. The value of that spectrum is expected to be far less now. One of the reasons for this, though, is that the residual licence period for the spectrum has reduced compared with when Jio had initially agreed to buy it, say experts.
The battle over spectrum between the two telcos and DoT may be resolved only in the Supreme Court, said sector experts.
Meanwhile, RCom’s committee of creditors held a meeting last week and is expected to meet again in the next few days. There is a need to come up with a resolution plan quickly in what is turning out to be one the largest insolvency case of Indian industry<\/a>, several people aware of the developments said.
RCom had sold some of its optic fibre and related assets for Rs 3,000 crore, and media convergence nodes and related infrastructure for Rs 2,000 crore before it filed for bankruptcy. Jio was the buyer in both deals.
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,资产管理塔公司和电信运营商也提交意向书(情绪过分投入)。
“大约10 - 12公司已经派出了他们感兴趣的表情。Bharti Airtel和Jio是其中的一部分,”一个人说。沃达丰的想法,经济状况最糟糕的印度三个私人移动公司,不在名单上的追求者。
法律纠纷的一个重要问题
Jio, Airtel和沃达丰的想法也没有回复寻求置评的电子邮件到截稿时间(周日)。德勤管理RCom court-monitored破产程序的,也没有回复记者的置评请求。
电波在印度14的22电信圈,大约43000电信塔坐落在鼓吹他的依赖和一些纤维和房地产资产出售。信实电信的800 MHz 4 g频谱牌照将于2021年7月到期。
Anil Ambani-promoted电信运营商,现已倒闭的Rs46,000卢比的债务。多达39金融债权人声称大约49193卢比。信实电信及其单位也有数百名操作债权人。
Jio几乎买了信实电信的无线资产在电信部打上了,看不清谁会援引缺乏承担负债相关带宽。信实电信申请破产后,未能完成交易。
Airtel资产的兴趣突显出电波扩大其4 g的重要性和即将到来的5 g覆盖,即使它是战斗与Jio争夺市场份额。
资产可以激烈的战斗私人股本公司也一直在积极寻求交易部门。但是他们的兴趣会更加光谱以外的资产。
“有重大体育运动员、资产管理和塔公司也派出了他们的情绪过分投入。今天,该行业私募股权投资公司变得活跃玩家,他们不会愿意放弃机会接RCom的资产,”一个人意识到发展说。
上个月,加拿大布鲁克菲尔德资产管理公司牵头的一个财团的同意购买信实工业的依赖Jio lnfratel单位多级处理。美国塔集团在印度也一直在扩大,连续通过收购Viom网络和俘虏塔沃达丰印度和想法细胞在他们持有的资产合并。
法律挑战
但是对于所有有兴趣的团体,主要的迫在眉睫的问题是电信部门和运营商之间的法律纠纷和Aircel RCom也是破产,他们最有价值的资产:所有权的光谱。部门此前曾告诉《国家公司法法庭Aircel破产,破产电信公司没有清除他们的会费必须返回,资产属于政府以来的频谱。在电信公司可以交易他们通过拍卖获得的谱,他们必须首先清楚任何拖欠付款,包括频谱使用费用和一次性频谱费,或提交银行担保覆盖的,它说。Aircel和RCom没有满足这些需求的部门了。
然而,公司仍然似乎热衷于资产因为破产程序下的频谱会远低于政府拍卖。
例如,根据目前已经遭拒的协议,Jio是122 MHz的800 MHz频段买点Rs7,300卢比,除了塔,信实电信申请破产之前。频谱的价值预计会少得多了。的一个原因,是残留许可证期限光谱相比,减少了Jio最初同意购买时,专家说。
两者之间的争夺频谱电信公司和点可能只在最高法院解决,行业专家说。
同时,信实电信的债权人委员会上周召开了一次会议,预计将在未来几天再次会晤。需要尽快想出一个解决计划的是印度最大的破产案件之一行业,几个人意识到发展说。
RCom卖掉了它的一些光学纤维和相关资产为3000卢比,和媒体融合节点和相关基础设施在申请破产前2000卢比。Jio是买方在交易。
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