Reliance Com seeks to list undersea cable arm in Singapore
19 Jan 2012
Reliance Communications is seeking to raise $1.5 billion (7,700 crore) by listing its undersea cable unit Flag Telecom on the Singapore Stock Exchange under a business trust structure, according to reliable reports.
The debt-laden company is prepared to part with up to 75 per cent of the submarine cables held by FLAG, which itself is a unit of Reliance Globalcom, part of Anil Ambani's ADA Group companies.
Deutsche Bank is the lead banker for the listing, which is expected to be completed within 90 days, say the reports, which have not been positively confirmed by the company.
"RCom continually works on various options to unlock value from its unique combination of global telecom assets for the benefit of its shareholders," a company spokesperson said, refusing to elaborate.
On Tuesday, the telecom operator raised $1.18 billion (Rs6,125 crore) at 5 per cent from Chinese banks to repay buyers of its overseas convertible bond issued in 2007.
RCom, India's second-largest mobile company by users, has long been trying to raise funds by selling assets to cut its debt load, which stood at $6.5 billion (Rs33,490 crore) as of September. But it has had little success.