Bombay HC orders liquidation of Nimbus Communications

Move uncalled for and capricious, company says

Broadcaster Nimbus Communications, promoter of sports channel Neo, has described the State Bank of Hyderabad’s (SBH) move to slap liquidation charges for loan defaults worth Rs 38 crore as uncalled for and capricious. 

A provisional liquidator has been appointed by the high court here in an order dated April 21, forcing Nimbus to act. While the company appealed against the order, set aside by the court earlier this month, Nimbus said it had sought restructuring and also made a one-time settlement offer to the bank.

“Nimbus is a profit-making company with receivables and assets well in excess of the less than Rs 60 crore of outstanding bank loans, 50 per cent of which pertains to SBH,” Shreya Shetty, company secretary of Nimbus Communications, said.

“Due to circumstances beyond the company’s control, its ability to pay back in time was affected. The company has sought restructuring and also made a one-time settlement offer to the bank. It remains in active dialogue with the bank for resolution,” she said.

City-based Goenka Law Associates represented SBH in the court. Nimbus’s lawyers could not be immediately ascertained.

This is not the first instance of liquidation proceedings initiated against Nimbus. In 2016, Union Bank of India went to court to recover money it had lent to the company. Back then, the court had agreed to grant an extension for repayment if Nimbus deposited Rs 10 crore in court. 

As the situation stands, the provisional liquidator will be tasked with selling Nimbus’s assets, the proceeds of which will be used to repay various lenders, including SBH and Union Bank of India that needs to recover Rs 35 crore in short-term loans and Rs 150 crore as bank guarantees in favour of the Board of Control for Cricket in India. 

Shetty, however, said the company did not owe any money to Union Bank of India. 

“Nimbus has deposits with the bank well in excess of its claim. It is an agreed position between the parties that Union Bank will adjust the balance of a working capital loan against the deposits. Union Bank is attempting to renege from this agreed position,” she said.