Future lenders give nod to debt recast plan

Lenders of the debtridden Future Retail Ltd have approved a plan to restructure the existing financial debt of the company under an RBI announced resolution framework for COVID19 related stress.

The restructuring plan would now be forwarded for approval to an expert committee, formed by RBI under the chairmanship of K V Kamath, Future Retail Ltd (FRL) said in a late-night regulatory update on Saturday.

As part of the resolution plan, the debt raised through the nonconvertible debentures issued by FRL is also part of the existing debt and is proposed to be restructured, it added.

The board of the company, which now expects to recover from the financial stress with the resolution timeframe, has also approved the restructuring plan in its meeting held on Saturday, it added.

"Board at its meeting held on April 17, 2021, has approved a resolution plan to restructure the existing secured financial debt from the bankers of the company as permitted under a resolution framework for COVID-19 related stress announced by the Reserve Bank of India," the filing said.

The said resolution plan which has supported by 28 lenders, which remains subject to the approval of the expert committee, under the chairmanship of K V Kamath constituted by the RBI, has been approved by the lenders to the existing debt of the company, it added.

The company has not specified the total debt under the restructuring. However, according to a report from Care Ratings, FRL had loans of Rs 6,278 crore as of October 2020. This includes a long-term loan of Rs 528 crore, long-term fund-based bank facilities of Rs 3,250 crore, and shortterm non-fund based bank facilities of Rs 2,500 crore.