Reliance Communications, whose net debt stood at Rs 36,334 crore at the end of September quarter, plans to issue dollar-denominated senior secured notes to repay foreign currency debt of $255 million, the company said in a filing to BSE on Monday.
The notes, if issued, will be listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange, Reliance Communication said.
“The notes proceeds will be used to repay existing foreign currency debt of $255 million to avail longer maturity redemption period and there will be no increase in the aggregate borrowing of the company following issuance of the notes and the repayment of the existing debt,” the company said.
“A draft preliminary Offering Circular (OC) has been prepared and shall be made made available to the prospective investors in relations to the contemplated issue of notes. The notes will not be offered or sold in India or in the United States of America,” it added.
When contacted, a Reliance Communications spokesperson said that the note issued to the BSE was a follow-up of the resolutions passed by the shareholders to reduce the interest cost on the company’s net debt or increase the tenure of the debt, at the its annual general meeting on September 30.
The mobile telephony arm of Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group, Reliance Communications (RCom), has in the last six months ended September 30 managed to bring down its net debt by around Rs 5,000 crore. At the end of the September quarter, the firm’s net debt stood at Rs 36,334 crore, down 12% from the beginning of fiscal 2015.
This has been largely possible due to the qualified institutional placement and promoter funding, through which the company raised around Rs 6,100 crore in this period. Most of this amount was used to retire debt.
At a recent analyst call, the company said it plans to further reduce net debt to Rs 25,000 crore over the next 12 months through a stake sale in its Globalcom (enterprise) business and monetisation of land parcels.