NEW DELHI: Subhash Chandra-led Essel Group has secured an extension in the time granted to pay back loans borrowed from several mutual fund houses.
The development comes ahead of the September 30 deadline by when the group had promised to pay back its dues as part of a standstill agreement reached with the lenders in February this year. "Lenders have unanimously agreed to extend the timeline, enabling the Group to optimise the value output from the sale of its assets," the group said in a statement.
The request for an extension was made purely in the interest of deriving the right value for the group’s assets, it said. n The group had an outstanding debt of Rs 11,000 crore borrowed against pledged promoter shares of flagship Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEEL) among other group entities.
The group’s promoters have already sold part of their holding in ZEEL in two tranches in an effort to raise over Rs 4,200 crore. Essel has also signed a deal with Adani Energy to sell its solar energy assets for Rs 1,300 crore.
According to sources, the group has already begun making partial repayments to its lenders after the closure of the asset sales, with more de-leveraging planned over the next few months.