Anil Ambani tries to fight off debts, sells BIG FM Radio to Radio City

• Anil Ambani’s Reliance Broadcast Network Ltd will be giving away its entire stake to Music Broadcast Ltd, which runs Radio City.
• BIG FM operates across 58 stations in India.
• The move to sell to MBL will result in reducing its outstanding debt by ₹1200 crore.

The troubled Anil Ambani-led Reliance Capital Ltd and group company Reliance Land is letting go of the popular BIG FM Radio. Ambani’s Reliance Broadcast Network Ltd will be giving away its entire stake to Music Broadcast Ltd, according to IANS.

According to the IANS report, MBL will acquire a 24% equity stake of RBNL by way of a preferential allotment for a total consideration of ₹202 crore. After getting the necessary regulatory approvals, MBL will then acquire the remaining stake for ₹1,050 crore.

"We are delighted to announce the asset monetization transaction with Music Broadcast Ltd, a leading FM Radio broadcaster. This transaction is part of our overall strategy to reduce exposure in non-core businesses and will reduce Reliance Capital's debt by an estimated Rs 1,200 crore," Amit Bapna, CFO, Reliance Capital, was quoted as saying in the statement.

MBL currently runs the radio channel Radio City. “Radio City is the first private FM to have a digital presence with Radiocity in and currently has 52 web radio stations with an average of 60 million streams per month,” Apurva Purohit, President Jagran Group & Director, Music Broadcast Ltd, had told Business Insider in an earlier interview.

Meanwhile, BIG FM operates across 58 stations in India.

With this acquisition the numbers for MBL are only set to grow. “In the last 3 years our revenue CAGR has been 15% which is almost double than that of the industry. Profit before tax has outpaced the growth of revenue, showing a CAGR growth of 34% in the last year too,” Purohit had said earlier.

However, things are looking quite grim for Anil Ambani. In its Q4 report, Anil Ambani’s Reliance Communication, which has already declared bankruptcy, has reported a loss of ₹7,767 crores.

For the Reliance Capital group, the move to sell to MBL will result in reducing its outstanding debt by ₹1,200 crore. An earlier report in March had said that Reliance Capital was looking to reduce its debt by ₹10,000-₹12,000 crore.

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