Future Retail may face insolvency

New Delhi: Debt-ridden Future Group is now focusing on saving and rebuilding firms such as - Future Lifestyle Fashions, Future Supply Chain Solutions, Future Consumer and Future Enterprises, after the Rs24,713-crore deal with Reliance Retail was rejected by secured creditors, according to industry sources.

However, Future Group's flagship firm Future Retail Ltd (FRL), which has nearly Rs18,000 crore debt, is bound to face the corporate insolvency resolution process before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). Other companies like Future Enterprises Ltd (FEL), Future Lifestyle Fashions Ltd (FLFL), Future Supply Chain Solutions Ltd (FSCSL), Future Consumer Ltd (FCL) can sustain on their own and can be rebuilt by restructuring their liabilities with the help of current lenders and investors, said an industry source close to the Future Group. "FEL has over Rs 5,000 crore loans and since the company is selling its stake in Future Generali India Insurance business. Now it is getting around Rs3,000 crore from it. The deal is almost complete. So that will leave a small amount of debt and that can be managed by FEL," a source said. FMCG company FCL has assets such as a 110-acre food park at Tumkur, Karnataka, which can be leveraged to rebuild the company, he added. FSCSL has warehouses across the country. In Nagpur, FSCSL has one of the largest and the most highly-automated distribution centres in India. "That is why the investors would be more keen to support and rebuild these companies," he added. When contacted, a Future group spokesperson declined to comment.

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd on Saturday called off its Rs 24,713-crore deal to acquire Future Group's retail, wholesale, logistics and warehousing assets, after the secured creditors of the Kishore Biyani-led companies voted against it. Future Lifestyle Fashions Ltd (FLFL), which handles the flagship fashion business of Future Group, has not defaulted on any loan repayments so far and here the group would raise money after divesting some of the few key brands under its portfolio.