Dewan Housing Finance Corp Ltd shares rose on Monday following five consecutive sessions of decline, after the Indian home loan provider said it was keen to sell assets and some of its businesses to improve liquidity, Reuters reported. The stock rose as management tried to assuage liquidity concerns on a conference call with investors, media and analysts. The stock was trading 5.9 percent higher at 117.70 rupees at 0745 GMT on Monday.
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India’s Reliance Communications Ltd on Monday moved the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) to withdraw its appeal in a dispute with Ericsson as it seeks to pursue a debt resolution plan through the country’s bankruptcy court, Reuters reported. Mumbai-based RCom, controlled by Anil Ambani, said on Friday it will seek fast-track resolution of its debt through the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), the country’s court that deals with bankruptcy cases. The NCLAT on Monday asked Ericsson to file a response by Feb. 8 and scheduled a hearing for Feb. 12.
An Indian appeals tribunal has ruled against Tata Steel Ltd’s effort to dismiss rival bids for Bhushan Power and Steel, boosting JSW Steel Ltd’s offer to buy the indebted steel maker, Reuters reported. The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) said the plea by Tata Steel was “not maintainable” as it was up to the committee of creditors of Bhushan Power and Steel to accept a debt resolution plan that could maximize asset value. The tribunal said it would not interfere with JSW Steel’s bid because more than 97 percent of the indebted firm’s creditors had approved the plan.
Wadhawan Global Capital, parent of an Indian mortgage lender hit by allegations of financial irregularities, sold its stake in another unit to funds managed by Blackstone LP, Bloomberg News reported. Wadhawan Global sold its 70 percent holding in Aadhar Housing Finance Ltd., it said in a statement on Saturday. Its unit Dewan Housing Finance Corp. also sold its 9.2 percent Aadhar stake as part of the same transaction. Terms weren’t disclosed.
India’s Reliance Communications Ltd (RCom) on Friday said it will seek fast track resolution through National Company Law Tribunal, the court that deals with bankruptcy cases, to resolve its debt position, Reuters reported. The company said lenders had not received any proceeds from its asset monetization plans, and that its overall debt resolution process had not made any progress. Over twelve months, talks with forty lenders to reach a consensus has been impossible and has driven them to the bankruptcy court, the debt-laden telecom company said.
Shares of Indian home loan provider Dewan Housing Finance Corp Ltd slumped 20 percent on Thursday, after government sources told Reuters a probe had been launched into allegations of financial mismanagement against the company, Reuters reported. The allegations are the latest setback for India’s shadow banking sector. A string of defaults at lender Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Service Ltd (IL&FS) triggered sharp falls in Indian stock and debt markets last autumn amid fears of contagion spreading to the rest of the financial sector.
India’s shadow lenders are facing a fresh threat, just as they were starting to recover from the fallout of landmark defaults last year by one of their own, Bloomberg News reported. The lenders could come up against a new cash shortage, if concerns about debt at conglomerate Essel Group ricochet through India’s money markets, according to Citibank and Credit Suisse. There’s reason to think that may happen, the argument goes, after Essel’s billionaire founder Subhash Chandra said on Friday that it has increased debt levels and a diminished ability to service borrowings.
India’s largest lender is finding fear can be a potent weapon in recovering loans. With 1.8 trillion rupees ($25 billion) in bad corporate debt to clean up, State Bank of India is having an easier time negotiating with founders keen to avoid the nation’s two-year-old bankruptcy law, according to Anshula Kant, a managing director overseeing stressed assets at the lender, Bloomberg News reported. That’s because a crackdown by policy makers has convinced business owners that they risk losing their companies once the courts become involved.
India’s economic activity showed signs of slowing in December, belying hopes of a quick turnaround suggested by the previous month’s data. A gauge measuring overall activity, or “animal spirits”, moved two notches lower in December from a month ago, underpinning a view that India’s growth has slowed and it might need a dose of fiscal and monetary stimulus to boost demand, Bloomberg News reported. The indicator, compiled by Bloomberg, reflects a pullback in new orders and business activity, as well as easing inflationary pressures.
Jet Airways India Ltd., the carrier that is struggling under a pile of debt, may get some respite. India’s largest lender State Bank of India is set to swap part of its loans into a stake of at least 15 percent in Jet Airways, people with knowledge of the matter said. Other creditors to the carrier also plan similar conversions of some debt into equity to help keep the carrier alive, they said.