Committee of creditors extends RCom’s asset bid deadline by 10 days

NEW DELHI: The resolution professional (RP) of Reliance Communications (RCom) has extended the deadline for submission of bids for the bankrupt company to next Friday after only two bidders, Bharti Group and Varde Partners, submitted bids at the close of the previous deadline of November 11, according to two bankers.

Deloitte’s Anish Nanavaty who is the RP, granted the extension at a meeting of RCom’s committee of creditors (CoC) held on Wednesday after seeking consent from bankers who unanimously agreed to grant the extension.

RCom and two of its arms Reliance Infratel and Reliance Telecom are undergoing insolvency proceedings under the supervision of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).

The two bidders submitted a common resolution plan for RCom and its two subsidiaries, according to the bankers. The financial bids were not yet opened. Claims of financial creditors against RCom and the two subsidiaries exceed Rs 85,000 crore. Email queries to Nanavaty did not elicit response at press-time. Varde Partners declined to comment.

A Bharti spokesperson said that a conditional bid has been submitted primarily for the spectrum which is a precious asset. “The bid conditions include that the overall consideration will primarily be by way of the deferred spectrum payables to the government being passed on to us on terms and schedules applicable to such deffered payments”, the spokesperson said.