After a wait of almost 11 months, two fund houses HDFC Asset Management Company and ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company have received repayment of non-convertible debentures (NCDs) from Essel Group.
HDFC Mutual Fund received a total of Rs 167 crore while ICICI Prudential AMC received Rs 267 crore from the Group.
“The Company (HDFC AMC) holds certain NCDs of the Essel Group that are secured by a pledge of listed equity shares. The carrying value of these NCDs as of September 30, 2019, was Rs 2,756.31 mn. The Company has received a total of Rs 1,668.64 mn towards part repayment of the said NCDs and interest thereon, from the issuer through the sale of certain listed equity shares comprising part of the collateral. The value of the residual pledged listed equity shares as at November 25, 2019, is Rs 1,439.54 mn,” HDFC AMC said in a presentation uploaded on the BSE website.
After the repayment Rs 267 crore, ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund does not have any exposure with Essel Group.
"Pursuant to the sale of shareholding by the promoters of ZEEL, ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund has received repayment of the total principal amount invested along with the accrued interest thereon. Subsequently, as on date, none of the schemes of ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund has any investments in debt instruments issued by the promoter group companies of ZEEL," Official Spokesperson of ICICI Prudential AMCs told Moneycontrol.
To clear its debt obligations, Essel Group on November 20 announced plans to sell 16.5 percent stake in its flagship company Zee Entertainment Enterprises to financial investors.
The promoter and promoter group holds 22.37 percent equity in Zee, of which 96 percent was pledged with lenders, as per shareholding data available on the exchanges.
In September, Essel group had made part payment to the tune of Rs 2,300 crore to some mutual funds when they sold an 11 percent stake. Its total dues then were Rs 6,500 crore.The Essel Group, promoter of Zee, had raised money from the fund houses by pledging shares with it.
A standstill agreement was signed with most lenders, giving promoters time till September to repaying the loans. The same was later extended for six months.
Six MFs -- Aditya Birla Sun Life, ICICI Prudential, SBI, Franklin Templeton, HDFC Mutual Fund and Kotak Mutual Fund -- had signed a standstill agreement with Essel group.
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