IL&FS group appoints three advisors for resolution plan

Debt-strapped Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FS) has appointed three advisors to undertake valuations and execute a timely resolution plan.

"Arpwood Capital Pvt Ltd and JM Financial Consultants Pvt Ltd selected as Financial & Transaction Advisors (FTAs) to the Group. The two identified FTAs shall act as financial and transaction advisors as well as undertake valuations across divestments and monetisations," IL&FS said in a statement.

IL&FS has also confirmed the appointment of Alvarez & Marsal as Restructuring Advisors to the Group.

“Alvarez & Marsal to assist the Board in maintaining strict controls on and managing liquidity on a day-to-day basis at all levels in the Group, evolving a Resolution Plan, and management of stakeholders as regards the resolution at the time of the implementation,” it said.

The FTAs will be advising the newly-constituted board of IL&FS on solutions towards a resolution for IL&FS, along with other advisors if any.

The appointments have been made by the new six-member board headed by Kotak Mahindra Bank Chief Uday Kotak, who was appointed as the IL&FS Group Chairman in September in a sudden takeover of control from the previous board.

Other board members include former SEBI chief GN Vajpai, ICICI Bank Chairman Girish Chandra Chaturvedi, former Tech Mahindra Executive Vice-Chairman Vineet Nayyar, and former bureaucrats Malini Shankar and Nanda Kishore.

In his first address after the takeover, Kotak said there are 348 entities in the IL&FS group, significantly larger than they expected. He added it (the revival) is a big task.

IL&FS Board, in its meeting last week, considered it “important to harmonise all asset monetisation activities, including ongoing initiatives, and to undertake them in a transparent and speedy manner aligned to the broader objective of optimising the interest of different stakeholders,” the statement added.

The group is in an attempt to resolve a financial crisis with a total debt of Rs 91,000 crore on its books.