New Delhi: In a bid to monetise its assets, crisis-ridden IL&FS on Monday initiated the process for divesting its stake in IL&FS Securities Services and ISSL Settlement & Transaction Services.
The board of Infrastruc-ture Leasing & Financial Services Ltd (IL&FS) appointed by the NCLT had submitted to the ministry of corporate affairs a report on the progress and the way forward, which in turn was submitted to the NCLT.
“As stated in the said report, it is the objective of the board to achieve, by one or more plan(s), the resolution of the IL&FS group through certain measures, including asset divestments,” the debt-ridden company said in a statement.
The release further said that in order to ascertain market interest, and to examine feasibility of maximisation of value in an orderly and transparent manner, the board, while continuing to evaluate all options, on Mon-day initiated the process of exploring the sale of an asset engaged in the securities services business.
Accordingly, the board has decided to solicit expressions of interest to assess the interest for a sale of its stake in IL&FS Securities Services and ISSL Settlement & Trans-action Services. “The board has appointed Arpwood Capital Pvt Ltd and JM Financial Ltd as Financial & Transaction Advisors, along with Alvarez & Marsal as Resolution Consultants,” said the company.
IL&FS Group and its companies have defaulted on many debt instruments due to insufficient funds. The group’s total debt stood at '94,215 crore as on October 8, 2018.
The board, the release added, is “cognizant” that these steps are required to advance the process for putting together resolution plan(s) for the IL&FS group, based on market interest and price discovery for various assets.
Any binding transaction for the sale of assets, as well as the resulting resolution plan(s), will be subject to requisite approvals (including the NCLT) before the transactions are implemented.
IL&FS SS is a professional clearing member in equity and other derivatives while ISSL STS is engaged in providing clearing services in the commodities derivatives.
