DHFL lenders to meet today to seek solution for Rs 90,000 cr debt; may consider conversion of debt into equity

Mumbai: Lenders of troubled NBFC DHFL are scheduled to meet on Monday (today), seeking a solution for the Rs 90,000 crore debt that is owed to them. The consortium of 30 lenders led by state-run Union Bank of India, which includes banks and other financial institutions, may also consider conversion of debt into equity that can make them the largest shareholder in the mortgage lender, sources said over the weekend. The debt recast plan will be arrived at as per the RBI’s revised circular on resolving asset quality stress, they said. The circular gives lenders a 30-day period since default to arrive at a debt recast plan. [caption id=“attachment_4473541” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  A file photo of Kapil Wadhawan, chairman and managing director, DHFL. Image courtesy: @kwadhawan1[/caption] DHFL’s promoter group, the Wadhawan family which owns over 39 percent of the firm, has been looking at various ways of coming out of the stress which first came to light late last year following the IL&FS crisis. These include selling stakes in group companies, while they are also reportedly fine with giving up half of their stake in the listed company. According to earlier media reports, an alternative investing firm has evinced interest in the company’s wholesale book, at least two private equity funds are interested in buying stake in DHFL. The DHFL debt has been downgraded by multiple rating agencies as the stress kept building up, while the company has also deferred announcement of quarterly results last week. The RBI blames the crisis on asset-liability mismatches at firms like DHFL, which typically borrowed short for creating long term assets. The banking regulator has vowed multiple times to do everything possible to ensure systemic financial stability. In last week’s financial stability report, it said the impact of a big housing finance company going down will be the same as a large commercial bank going down.