RCom to sell real estate assets for Rs 800 crore

A fortnight after the merger deal between embattled Reliance Communications and Canada-based asset management firm Brookfield collapsed, the Anil Ambani company is selling real estate assets instead, which will get it only Rs 801 crore. RCom is staring at insolvency if it can’t sell its assets at high enough valuations to repay its debt which stands at Rs 45,000 crore. The company has even defaulted on dollar bonds last week. “Lenders have approved the sale of real estate asset RCom holds in Delhi and Chennai for Rs 801 crore to Brookfield,” PTI reported quoting a source. RCom has been working on finding investors or buyers for prime real estate assets, including at Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City, Navi Mumbai, measuring nearly 125 acres with development rights of potentially over 17 million sq ft and prime property of 4 acre near Connaught Place, New Delhi. RCom is reeling under a total debt of Rs 45,000 crore. Of this, Rs 25,000 crore is domestic debt and remaining Rs 20,000 crore is in the form of foreign loans and bonds. In June this year, RCom got a seven-month breather from its lenders as part of a strategic debt restructuring (SDR) scheme. RCom said it would repay its Rs 25,000 crore debt from two merger deals with Aircel and Brookfield of Rs 14,000 crore and Rs 11,000 crore respectively. However, both the deals have now collapsed.