INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Mumbai: An appeals tribunal (National Company Law Appellate Tribunal) on Wednesday put on hold insolvency proceedings against Reliance
Communications (RCom), after the debt-laden telecom carrier reached a settlement with Swedish telecom gearmaker Ericsson
The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) in New Delhi has asked RCom to pay Ericsson Rs 550 crore ($81.52 million) by
end-September as part of the settlement.The settlement potentially paves the way for the Anil Ambani-controlled telecom operator to sell its
wireless assets including mobile masts and airwaves to Reliance Jio Infocomm in a deal sources have said is worth $3.8 billion
However, the settlement looked unlikely until a few days ago
appeal with the NCLAT, after the National Company Law Tribunal, earlier this month, admitted an insolvency plea against the company that was
filed by Ericsson.Ericsson, which signed a seven-year deal in 2014 to operate and manage RCom's nationwide telecom network, was seeking Rs
1,155 crore ($171.16 million) from the company and two of its subsidiaries
It is noteworthy that NCLT on May 15 accepted the insolvency petition filed by Swedish company Ericsson against the Reliance Communications
However, a month before that, RCom had secured the Tribunal's nod to sell some tower, fibre busines
