Co in talks with SBI, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank for long-term loan facility to acquire Textile Company.
Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), India’s biggest company by market value, is in negotiations with three top banks for a Rs.5,000 crore long-term loan facility to fund its acquisition of textile company Alok Industries in a bankruptcy takeover.
RIL is in talks with State Bank of India (SBI), HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank for financing, four people familiar with the company’s plans said. RIL won the right to buy Alok Industries in the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) process in March this year.
RIL, SBI, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank.
The Ahmedabad bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) had approved the sole RIL bid, made together with JM Financial Asset Reconstruction Co, which had promised to pay Rs.5,050 crore to take over Alok. However, banks are still waiting for the amount. The liquidation value of Alok was Rs.4,500 crore.
“RIL… has decided to borrow from banks and spend. It is in negotiations with SBI, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank, which is one reason for the delay. We have approached National Company Law Appellate Tribunal to expedite the process and also written to the company to make the payment quickly,” said one of the people cited above.
SBI, the lead bank, had initiated insolvency proceedings against Alok Industries in June 2017. It was among the 12 accounts with outstanding loans greater than Rs.5,000 crore that Reserve Bank of India (RBI) asked banks to refer to NCLT.