Jio deposits Rs 3,720 cr in SBI escrow account to acquire Reliance Infratel

Reliance Projects and Property Management Services, a subsidiary of telecom major Jio, has deposited Rs 3,720 crore in an SBI escrow account to acquire mobile tower and fibre assets of Reliance Infratel.

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) gave approval to Jio for the acquisition of Reliance Infratel (RITL) in November.

“Reliance Infratel transaction is complete. Jio has deposited Rs 3,720 crore in a SBI escrow account as directed by NCLT,” a source told PTI.

Billionaire Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani-led Jio placed a bid of Rs 3,720 crore in November 2019 to acquire the tower and fibre asset of debt-ridden subsidiary of his younger brother Anil Ambani-managed firm Reliance Communications.

The tribunal asked Jio to deposit Rs 3,720 crore in the State Bank of India (SBI) escrow account to complete the acquisition of RCOM’s tower and fibre assets.

On November 6, Jio had proposed to deposit Rs 3,720 crore in an escrow account to complete the acquisition of Reliance Infratel which is undergoing an insolvency resolution process.

The Committee of Creditors has already approved the resolution plan by Jio on March 4, 2020 with a 100 per cent vote. RITL has fibre assets of around 1.78 lakh route kilometers and 43,540 mobile towers across the country.

The funds will be distributed amongst the lenders once the inter-creditor dispute over the distribution of resolution funds is settled.

SBI and a few other banks, including Doha Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, and Emirates Bank, are engaged in a legal battle over the distribution of funds. The matter is pending before the Supreme Court. Doha Bank had challenged the classification of claims from the indirect creditors of RITL as the financial creditors by the resolution professional.