A Winner From Billionaire’s India Bankruptcy May Be His Richer Brother
- Reliance Communications asset sales may come more cheaply
- Banks stand to take deeper haircuts as insolvency looms
Anil Ambani
Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg
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In a twist to the tale of two rival billionaire brothers in India, a bankruptcy filing by Anil Ambani’s wireless carrier could have one clear winner -- his elder sibling’s disruptive mobile phone unit.
The process initiated Friday in Mumbai, once admitted by the court, would leave Ambani’s Reliance Communications Ltd., or RCom, 270 days to repay debt or liquidate. The company voluntarily took the step after a planned sale of tower, spectrum and fiber assets to older sibling Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. stalled. The 173 billion rupee ($2.4 billion) deal had prompted objections and lawsuits from creditors seeking payment ahead of the sale.