From roads to radio units, Anil Ambani group mulls $3.2-bn distress sale

Indian tycoon Anil Ambani plans to raise about Rs 217 billion ($3.2 billion) by selling assets from roads to radio stations in a bid to cut debt.

The breakdown is like this, according to the group spokesman:

Reliance Infrastructure Ltd. is seeking Rs 90 billion from the sale of nine road projects.

Reliance Capital Ltd. aims to raise Rs 12 billion by selling its radio unit, and Rs 115 billion from monetizing its holdings in the financial business.

Ambani is waging a war on debt. He said on June 11 that his Reliance Group repaid Rs 350 billion in the past 14 months through asset disposals.

But a large pile remains. The four biggest group companies still have about Rs 939 billion of debt. And that excludes Reliance Communications Ltd., Ambani’s former flagship firm, that recently slipped into insolvency.

Further asset sales would help Ambani bolster the financial health of his group’s companies after a string of setbacks that included an auditor resigning at one of the firms and plunging stock prices at others. Rating cuts have also flagged credit market concerns.