The group is negotiating with banks for settlement of Rs 6,800 crore debt by selling off the group companies – GTL Infrastructure Ltd and Chennai Network Infrastructure Ltd
Manoj Tirodkar-promoted Global Group is taking steps to settle its debt with the Indian lenders.
The group is negotiating with banks for a one-time settlement of Rs 6,800 crore debt by selling off the group companies.
Global Group's portfolio of telecom companies include infrastructure services firm GTL Ltd and shared passive telecom infrastructure companies -- GTL Infrastructure Ltd and Chennai Network Infrastructure Ltd (CNIL).
The group owes banks around Rs 12,000 crore.
Manoj Tirodkar, chairman of Global Group, did not respond to text messages sent to him.
A senior banker said, "The company has come for a one-time settlement with banks, and the lenders are examining the proposal. The company says they have got a foreign investor willing to buy out the companies, GTL Infra and Chennai Networks."
Way back in 2011, the group and its lenders agreed on a plan to restructure the Rs 8,000 crore debt of both the companies -- GTL Infra and Chennai Networks. But the plan fell through with bankers having no consensus on how the debt should be restructured under the corporate debt restructuring scheme. Bankers say the group was a victim of circumstances in the telecom sector that was plagued with scams and cancellations of licences of its customers.
Banks, which have been writing off loans or classifying them NPAs, believe that the one-time settlement and the willingness to sell off non-core assets is a positive sign as promoters take up the onus to settle loans with banks.
The total non-performing loans of the banking system at the end of the quarter ended December 31, 2015 stood at Rs 4.36 lakh crore. The total stress assets in the system are pegged at over Rs 7 lakh crore.
The acquisition of Chennai Network Infrastructure, which had 17,000 mobile towers from Aircel in a Rs 8,400 crore transaction, burdened the company with a huge debt. This was followed by another plan to buy 50,000 towers from Reliance Communications. The company's wanted to lease out mobile towers, a plan that floundered leading to squeezed cash flows.
The Reliance Communications deal was the first to fall and the Aircel deal also got stuck with the telecom services provider losing licences after the Supreme Court struck down the 122 permits. "All these external factors impacted the company and it was difficult for it to repay the debt," said another banker also privy to the discussions that the company is having with bankers.
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