RCom’s land in Navi Mumbai gets 8 bidders

NEW DELHI: Reliance CommunicationsBSE -2.14 % (RCom) has received interest for its 125-acre land bank in Navi Mumbai and is understood to have finalised eight bidders for its development and sale.

Sources said the debt-laden company — which owes Rs 47,000 crore to banks and other lenders — is heavily banking on proceeds from the land monetisation as it can provide immediate cash to clear pending dues. The DAKC (Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge Centre) campus in Navi Mumbai has the potential to develop 20 million sq ft for IT, commercial, and residential space.

“Parties include Canada’s Brookfield, real estate companies Wadhwa Group, Raheja and Panchshil, office space developer RMZ, private equity players KKR and Blackstone,” sources said. HDFC Realty is the independent valuer for the land bank and it is estimated that its value can be in “thousands of crores of rupees”. However, there is no independent confirmation of the exact evaluation numbers.

When contacted, a spokesperson for the company declined to comment.

The movement on Navi Mumbai land comes just as RCom’s lenders have approved the sale of its real estate assets in Delhi and Chennai to Brookfield for a consideration of Rs 800 crore.

The Navi Mumbai land deal is critical for the struggling company, which is shutting down its 2G and 3G voice operations by the end of this month over recurring losses.

RCom has suffered a series of setbacks over the past few months after its attempt to strike a merger deal with Aircel fell through. Completion of the deal would have enabled the company to bring down its debt by nearly Rs 14,000 crore.

Aircel deal collapse also saw end of the company’s tower deal, from which it was expecting to receive Rs 11,000 crore by selling a 51% share. RCom is now negotiating fresh deal with companies, this time looking to sell the tower operations completely.

The company has given 51% stake to banks as part of a structured debt restructuring (SDR) plan and is also negotiating sale/interest in its other businesses, including sub-sea cable and enterprise operations.

Reliance Communications (RCOM)