Srei Infra Finance tries to revive Deccan Chronicle
HYDERABAD: Nearly a year after its attempts to forge a compromise deal among stakeholders and lenders, Kolkata-based infrastructure lending firm Srei Infrastructure Finance (SIFL) is now renewing attempts to revive the ailing media house Deccan Chronicle Holdings (DCHL).
The Hemant Kanoria-controlled lending firm proposes to induct into Deccan Chronicle five directors with experience in media, banking, finance and law under the leadership of Manoj Mohanka, former chairman of Network 18 Media and Investments. Srei Infra has circulated notices to DCHL shareholders convening an extraordinary general meeting on March 20 to discuss the performance of the media house, assess critical legal cases against it and its long term viability to protect stakeholder interests.
Manoj Mohanka, former president of Calcutta Chambers of Commerce, had last year accepted a proposal of DCHL's single largest shareholder Srei Infra to infuse fresh capital to revive the beleaguered media house.
Srei Infra, which holds 24% equity stake in DCHL, had on December 20 informed the media house's vice chairman and managing director Tikkavarapu Vinayak Ravi Reddy seeking to convene the EGM for board representation.
Dozens of lenders have been trying to recover advances extended to DCHL for five years after the publishing house plunged into a financial crisis following defaults to lenders in July 2012. Some lenders sold assets pledged with them, while others tries converting loans into equity . Soon after the CBI arrested DCHL chairman Tikkavarapu Venkattram Reddy and his brother and vice chairman Vinayak Ravi Reddy in February 2015, lenders intensified efforts to revive a hunt for a buyer to manage the media house. While Reddy and his brother managed to secure bail later, India's premier investigating agency is still probing into the complaint by DCHL's lead lender Canara Bank of a fraud involving loans Rs 5,000 crore. The move of Srei Infra Finance comes even as ICICI Bank, a large lender of DCHL, was contesting the stake holding of the lender, which was allotted 6.6 crore shares of Rs 2 each by DHCL management in January 2015. ICICI Bank, which had in February 2015 announced acquiring 24.9% stake in DCHL through invocation of pledged shares, claims that allotment of shares to Srei Infra amounted to breach of an interim stay issued by courts. In a notice to DCHL shareholders, Srei Infra said the petition filed by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office against the DCHL management of fraud and mismanagement is being heard by the principle bench of National Company Law Tribunal in Delhi.
Apart from seeking to appoint Manoj Mohanka, Srei Infra also proposed appointing veteran journalist Sabina Inderjit, financial management expert and former group CFO of Punj Lloyd Shamik Roy , banking and finance expert Prashant Mustii, and legal expert and principal associate of Khaitan & Co Dipen Chatterjee.
On its move to appoint directors, Srei Infra in its notice to DCHL shareholders said assistance was required with regards to financial discipline, business management and manpower management to revive the operations of the media house.
“These proposed directors are experts from diverse fields, including the media business and it is believed that their induction to the board of directors of the company will strengthen the management of the company and bring in more professionalism to the company ,“ said Srei Infra. “It is hoped that this will assist in turning around the operations of the company and resolving the current situation.“
The lender also informed shareholders that the proposed appointment of directors would be subject to the approval of NCLT and that it would move the tribunal with the shareholders' approval.
Repeated efforts to reach DCHL promoters failed to elicit any response.
The Hemant Kanoria-controlled lending firm proposes to induct into Deccan Chronicle five directors with experience in media, banking, finance and law under the leadership of Manoj Mohanka, former chairman of Network 18 Media and Investments. Srei Infra has circulated notices to DCHL shareholders convening an extraordinary general meeting on March 20 to discuss the performance of the media house, assess critical legal cases against it and its long term viability to protect stakeholder interests.
Manoj Mohanka, former president of Calcutta Chambers of Commerce, had last year accepted a proposal of DCHL's single largest shareholder Srei Infra to infuse fresh capital to revive the beleaguered media house.
Srei Infra, which holds 24% equity stake in DCHL, had on December 20 informed the media house's vice chairman and managing director Tikkavarapu Vinayak Ravi Reddy seeking to convene the EGM for board representation.
Dozens of lenders have been trying to recover advances extended to DCHL for five years after the publishing house plunged into a financial crisis following defaults to lenders in July 2012. Some lenders sold assets pledged with them, while others tries converting loans into equity . Soon after the CBI arrested DCHL chairman Tikkavarapu Venkattram Reddy and his brother and vice chairman Vinayak Ravi Reddy in February 2015, lenders intensified efforts to revive a hunt for a buyer to manage the media house. While Reddy and his brother managed to secure bail later, India's premier investigating agency is still probing into the complaint by DCHL's lead lender Canara Bank of a fraud involving loans Rs 5,000 crore. The move of Srei Infra Finance comes even as ICICI Bank, a large lender of DCHL, was contesting the stake holding of the lender, which was allotted 6.6 crore shares of Rs 2 each by DHCL management in January 2015. ICICI Bank, which had in February 2015 announced acquiring 24.9% stake in DCHL through invocation of pledged shares, claims that allotment of shares to Srei Infra amounted to breach of an interim stay issued by courts. In a notice to DCHL shareholders, Srei Infra said the petition filed by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office against the DCHL management of fraud and mismanagement is being heard by the principle bench of National Company Law Tribunal in Delhi.
Apart from seeking to appoint Manoj Mohanka, Srei Infra also proposed appointing veteran journalist Sabina Inderjit, financial management expert and former group CFO of Punj Lloyd Shamik Roy , banking and finance expert Prashant Mustii, and legal expert and principal associate of Khaitan & Co Dipen Chatterjee.
On its move to appoint directors, Srei Infra in its notice to DCHL shareholders said assistance was required with regards to financial discipline, business management and manpower management to revive the operations of the media house.
“These proposed directors are experts from diverse fields, including the media business and it is believed that their induction to the board of directors of the company will strengthen the management of the company and bring in more professionalism to the company ,“ said Srei Infra. “It is hoped that this will assist in turning around the operations of the company and resolving the current situation.“
The lender also informed shareholders that the proposed appointment of directors would be subject to the approval of NCLT and that it would move the tribunal with the shareholders' approval.
Repeated efforts to reach DCHL promoters failed to elicit any response.
