IL&FS crisis: Cash-strapped company claims over dozen responses for stake sale in two arms

Mumbai: Debt-laden Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) on Monday said it has received more than a dozen responses for its stake sale in IL&FS Securities Services (ISSL) and ISSL Settlement & Transaction Services (ISTSL). On 12 November, the company had initiated the process for divesting its stake in both the subsidiaries. The group has 348 subsidiaries, nearly half of which are overseas. “More than a dozen expressions of interest (EOIs) towards acquiring IL&FS’s stake in ISSL and ISTSL have been received, which the board is scrutinising for eligibility,” the company said in a statement. The last date for submitting responses was 23 November. [caption id=“attachment_5251861” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters.[/caption] It said a mix of banks, private equity players and other financial services firms have shown interest in buying IL&FS’s stake in the two arms. “The group will shortly be launching the asset monetisation process for sale of many other assets as part of its ongoing resolution process,” the release said. The Uday Kotak-led board of IL&FS, appointed by the government, had submitted to the ministry of corporate affairs a report on the progress and the way forward, which in turn was submitted to the NCLT. In the resolution plan submitted to NCLT on 31 October, the board said it expects to complete the resolution process, in stages, over the next two-three quarters. The plan submitted to the bankruptcy court also hinted at non-transparent and illegal transactions by the previous management in the selling a group entity in June 2017. The board had also pegged the total debt of the group by over Rs 3,000 crore at Rs 94,215.6 crore as of 8 October. In the resolution plan, the management had said the new board was facing significant challenges arising from lack of reliable information and gaps in the data in working towards a resolution plan for the group.