Billionaire Anil Ambani’s progress in winning confidence of creditors last year is being eroded by a global market rout and delays in delivering on asset-sale promises.
In the four months since revealing plans to cut debt across his companies, no major sales have been completed and an emerging-market slump has spoiled a rally in Ambani-linked bonds and shares. The yield on Reliance Communications Ltd.’s dollar notes surged this year by almost as much as it fell in 2015, while measures of default risk of that firm and Reliance Infrastructure Ltd. have risen from record lows.
Ambani announced planned sales of towers, cement units and road projects in September to help the two companies become net-debt free by March of next year. While spokespeople at both firms declined to comment, executives have signaled that deals are imminent. Total debt across the group’s three listed telecoms and utilities firms more than tripled to 988 billion rupees ($14.5 billion) since the global financial crisis, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
“Announcements have been made, but the deals aren’t striking through," said Deven Choksey, the Mumbai-based managing director at brokerage K.R. Choksey Shares & Securities Pvt. “Completion of asset sales is key to paring debt at the group level, and hence is keeping creditors jittery."