(PTI)
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani today stepped in to bail out younger brother Anil Ambani’s debt- ridden Reliance Communications by acquiring spectrum, tower, optical fiber network and other wireless assets.While the two companies did not disclose the deal size, banking sources pegged the transaction value at Rs 24,000- 25,000 crore.
The announcement comes just two days after Reliance Communications – promoted by Anil Ambani – disclosed a new deal with the lenders under which nearly Rs 40,000 crore will be raised through sale of assets, averting an imminent takeover by the 35 local and foreign banks.
The mega deal also coincides with the 85th birth anniversary of Reliance founder Dhirubhai Ambani.
The deal will bring an immediate relief to Reliance Communications (RCom), which is reeling under Rs 45,000 crore debt, and the company hopes to use the entire proceeds to pare its debt.
“Reliance Communications Limited today announced it has signed definitive binding agreements with Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (RJio) for sale of wireless spectrum, tower, fiber and Media Convergence Node (MCN) assets,” RCom said in a statement.A statement by Jio — which has 160 million customers just over a year into 4G operations — said these assets are strategic in nature and are expected to contribute significantly to its large scale roll out of Wireless and Fiber-to-Home and Enterprise services.
