IL&FS Mutual Fund makes on time redemption of debt fund series

Mumbai, April 30 (IANS) For the first time in several months, the debt-ridden IL&FS Group has started meeting its repayment commitment towards investors. The group’s entity IL&FS Mutual Fund (IDF) on Tuesday said that it has made on-time redemption in its first debt fund series — IL&FS Infrastructure Debt Fund Series 1-A (IDF Scheme A)– on its due date of April 30.

“The Scheme redeemed Rs 314 crore to the investors, which was paid out today (Tuesday). IDF Scheme A, a 5-year closed ended scheme, had raised Rs 238 crore from various Institutional Investors and was fully funded in April 2014,” the company said.

This is the first series, of the total of eight schemes in the portfolio, that was due for payment on April 30. The remaining seven schemes have varying maturities, ranging from 2 years to 12 years, with final maturity in 2031-32, the company said.

IL&FS and group companies that have a total outstanding debt in excess of Rs 90,000 crore have defaulted on payment to banks and financial institutions due to severe liquidity crisis. Millions of investors in pension and provident funds also face uncertain future due to their exposure in toxic bonds of IL&FS.

The new management under Uday Kotak is trying to resolve the crisis-laden operations through a set of structural reforms involving start of repayment cycle by group entities having ability to do so and monetization of assets through third party sales.

“Two funds in the same series – IL&FS Infrastructure Debt Fund Series 1B and IL&FS Infrastructure Debt Fund Series 1C – have maturities of 7 years (2021) and 10 years (2024) respectively,” the company said.

The redemption for IDF Scheme A has been approved by the Board and trustees of IDF and meets all statutory compliances and applicable norms.

Post this redemption, IDF will continue to manage a total AUM of Rs 1,800 crore raised from a variety of investors spread across its remaining seven closed-ended schemes.

The Funds are invested in a diversified portfolio in various sub-sectors within the Infrastructure sector.

IL&FS Limited and IL&FS Financial Services Limited are among the first institutions to launch an Infrastructure Debt Fund (IDF) in partnership with the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), the General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC), the United India Insurance Company Limited (UII) and the National Insurance Co Ltd (NIC).

–IANS
ravi/sn/vd