Brookfield Asset Management Inc.’s plan to acquire Suzlon Energy Ltd has hit a roadblock as the Canadian investor has asked Indian banks to take up to 70% haircut on the wind turbine maker’s debt of Rs 10,300 crore (about $1.5 billion at current exchange rate), a person in the know told Business Standard.
Suzlon turned into a non-performing account for the banks from the June quarter thanks to defaults on loan repayments. Last week, it defaulted on the payment of foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs) worth $172 million (Rs 1,183 crore).
Meanwhile, persons in the know told The Times of India that e-commerce firm Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal, who has been focusing on the fast-growing fintech sector, has made a debt investment of Rs 50 crore ($7.3 million at current exchange rate) in consumer lending startup Kissht.
Armed with his over $1 billion from the sale of Flipkart, Bansal has chosen fintech and the broader financial services sector as his next focus area, he said in a session in Bengaluru. Last month, he committed Rs 200 crore ($28.7 million) in debt capital to Northern Arc Capital Ltd. In April, he invested Rs 25 crore in microfinance firm Chaitanya India Finance. Also, he has invested Rs 250 crore each via debt in Altico Capital India Ltd and IndoStar Capital Finance Ltd, according to a February report by Mint.
Kissht, owned by Onemi Technology Solutions Pvt. Ltd, is a purchase financing startup which works with several thousands of merchants across online and offline channels. It is in talks with other investors to raise about Rs 350 crore in equity funding, the report said.
Separately, two people in the know told The Economic Times that diversified The Wave Group is headed for a vertical split between late Ponty Chadha’s son Manpreet Singh Chadha and younger brother Rajinder (Raju) Chadha. The group has a wide portfolio of businesses, including sugar manufacturing, distilleries and breweries, infrastructure technology (real estate), beverages, education and entertainment.
Under the separation plan, 64% of the group assets, largely real estate apart from sugar mills, malls and beverages plant, will go to Manpreet, according to one of the persons quoted above.
The remaining 36% will go to Rajinder, who will get control of the legacy liquor business along with Wave One — a 41-storey structure in Noida’s Sector 18, the report said.
