YES Bank issues possession notice for RInfra headquarters, other assets

Move triggered by RInfra's failure to repay Rs 2,892 cr debt; Properties include firm's HQ in Mumbai's Santa Cruz East, two floors in Nagin Mahal, Churchgate

Private sector lender YES Bank has issued possession notice for several properties belonging to Reliance Infrastructure (RInfra), including its headquarters, after the company failed to repay its debt worth Rs 2,892 crore.

RInfra’s headquarters is located in Santacruz East, Mumbai, and the other properties include two floors in Nagin Mahal, near Chur­chgate. In a notice dated July 22, YES Bank said it had issued notice to RInfra under the Secu­ritisation and Recon­struction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Securities Inte­rest (Sarfaesi) Act to recover dues, and warned the public against dealing in these properties. 

YES Bank has an exposure of Rs 12,000 crore to the Anil Ambani group. A host of other companies, including DHFL, Crompton Greaves, Zee Group, have failed to repay their debt to YES Bank as well.

In May, YES Bank’s auditor had pointed out breaches of several Reserve Bank of India norms and loan covenants by the private bank in financial year 2019-20, which, it said, impacted the bank’s ability to continue as a going concern. 

The standalone financial results stated that the bank had to make an additional provision of Rs 15,422 crore for the period ended December 2019.

The bank, now under a new management, had to be bailed out by the State Bank of India and Life Insurance Corporation of India with a fund infusion of Rs 10,000 crore. 

Last week, it raised Rs 15,000 crore through a follow-on public offer to a group of investors at the rate of Rs 12 a share. On Wednesday, YES Bank’s shares fell below the FPO price to Rs 11.75 a share.

Interestingly, Ambani has already admitted in the UK High Court that his net worth is zero and will not be able to pay dues of another group firm, Reliance Commun­ications. But the UK High Court has asked Ambani to pay $717 million to Chinese banks or face action.