The last stronghold in embattled tycoon Anil Ambani’s phone carrier-to-power empire is also developing fault lines.
Reliance Capital Ltd, his financial services business that almost doubled its profit in five years, had largely remained insulated from the distress plaguing the wider conglomerate. Now, the company that controls India’s fifth-biggest mutual fund, is racing to close a planned $ 2 billion of asset sales to bolster its finances after cash dwindled to Rs 11 crore ($1.6 million) as of March, according to CARE Ratings.
With $ 252 million of debt falling due over May and June, a unit of Moody’s Investors Service and two other local firms have slashed the ratings of Reliance Capital or its short-term instruments, citing hold-ups in asset sales, deteriorating liquidity, and risks on loans to unprofitable affiliates.
