Essel Group in talks to sell its assets to pay off debts
economictimes.indiatimes.comSubhash Chandra’s Essel Group is in talks with corporate houses, real estate developers, and leading private equity players for the sale of marquee land properties and a few unlisted infrastructure assets to generate ₹1,500 crore that he is supposed to pay American PE firm JC Flowers to settle his debt obligations and take back control of assets including direct-to-home (DTH) company Dish TV, said multiple banking and ibanking sources aware of the talks.
“The group has enough as sets to liquidate, pay off the settlement amount, get back whatever securities are pledged, and get free Dish TV and Zee Learn from JC Flowers. Dish TV's 24% stake would be valued around ₹800-900 crore,” said a banker.
“The company is looking to close all transactions by Feb or March 2024.”
JC Flowers inherited a 24% stake in Dish TV from Yes Bank, which converted a loan into equity after the DTH company defaulted on a ₹5,400 crore loan. Essel Group promoters own a 15.05% stake in Zee Learn.
The group is selling off its unlisted infrastructure assets, which are still with the group.
“The group hasn’t been able to unlock the value of those assets in the last 3–4 years, and the time is right for good realisation to get some equity value around those assets,” said an investment banker involved in the deal process.
The final agreement between Dr. Chandra and JC Flowers was signed on August 7th, 2023, and the promoter agreed to settle nearly ₹7,000 crore exposure, including all secured and unsecured debts with the firm.
On August 8, Zee Learn informed exchanges that the company had signed a settlement agreement with JC Flowers Asset Reconstruction on August 7 to settle its obligations with respect to loans borrowed by certain trusts and entities.
“As
