Reliance Communications, which has a $925-million (Rs 4,843 crore) convertible bond maturing in March and has failed so far in efforts to sell its tower unit, is in talks with China Development Bank for a loan to redeem the bond, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said.
India's second biggest mobile operator by subscribers, controlled by Anil Ambani, has been trying for more than a year to sell its tower business in a deal that could be worth over $3 billion (Rs 15,709 crore). Two sources with knowledge of the matter said a deal for the towers, which would allow the company to pay down a big chunk of the $6.5 billion (Rs 3,4036 crore) in net debt on its books as of the end of September, was not close to completion. The company has been in talks with US buyout giants Carlyle Group and Blackstone Group on a deal for the towers business, sources have told Reuters.
Ambani told shareholders in September that a private-equity deal for the towers would be the largest such transaction ever in India. He did not elaborate or give a time-frame for closing.
The company is looking to secure a leasing agreement for its towers from Reliance Industries, controlled by Anil Ambani's once-estranged brother Mukesh, before pressing forward with a tower sale, the two sources said.
In a statement to Reuters, Reliance Communications said it would "ensure timely redemption of FCCBs (foreign currency convertible bonds) due in March 2012." The company declined further comment, and did not respond to a separate query on the status of the tower sales process.
A Reliance Communications official said in November the company was talking to other telecom companies to offer its towers on lease but did not name possible tenants. The tower business, Reliance Infratel, has more than 50,000 towers but gets most of its revenue from its parent.
More From This Section
If Reliance Industries strikes a deal to use the towers of Reliance Communications, it would be the first business tie-up between the two scions of India's richest family since they buried the hatchet in their long-running feud in 2010.
Reliance Communications is in the early stages of talks with state-owned China Development Bank for a syndicated loan of $925 million (Rs 4,843 crore), the same size as the convertible bond, the first source said. The bank is likely to approach other Chinese lenders about syndicating the loan.
Terms are still to be worked out, and a loan is not likely to be launched until February, after China's Lunar New Year holiday later this month, this person said. Reliance Communications, which has borrowed from the Chinese lender in the past, has also discussed with China Development Bank the possibility of borrowing Chinese currency in India. China Development Bank arranged loans worth $1.93 billion (Rs 10,106 crore) for Reliance Communications last March. The new loan would probably have a wider margin than the 300 basis points above Libor that Reliance Communications paid in last year's 10-year financing, the person said.
Funds from that loan were used to finance spectrum it acquired during a costly 3G auction, as well as for the purchase of equipment from China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and ZTE Corp, Reliance Communications said at the time.
The Indian cellular firm, battered by fierce competition and thwarted in several attempts to strike deals to ease its debt, has seen its shares get hammered over the past few years.
The stock rose 1.3 percent on Wednesday to close at Rs 82.10, far below the Rs 654 conversion price on the convertible bonds, which were issued in February 2007 when Indian markets were booming.
Shares in the company, which has reported eight straight falls in quarterly profit, were trading around 410 rupees when the company issued the bonds 2007.
More than two dozen Indian companies in the BSE-500 index face redemptions on foreign currency convertible bonds worth a combined 330 billion rupees by the end of March 2013, according to research by Indian brokerage Edelweiss.
A global dollar funding crunch as western banks conserve capital and the rupee's 16 percent fall in 2011 make for a challenging refinancing environment for Indian companies.
High domestic interest rates after 13 policy rate increases since March 2010 make local finance less attractive.