A UK court on Friday ordered Reliance Group chairman Anil Ambani to pay $717million to three Chinese banks within 21 days.
As per reports, Justice Nigel Teare of London’s Commercial Division of the High Court of England and Wales said that a personal guarantee disputed by Ambani is binding on him.
A spokesperson for Anil Ambani said that he was seeking legal advice on the future course of action.
“It is emphasised that it is not a personal loan of Mr Ambani. ICBC (Industrial and Commercial Bank of China) made their claim based on an alleged guarantee that was never signed by Mr Ambani and he has consistently denied having authorised anyone to execute any guarantee on his behalf,” the spokesperson said.
“As far as the judgment of the UK court is concerned, the question of any enforcement in India does not arise in the near future, and Mr Ambani is seeking legal advice on the future course of action,” he added.
The Chinese banks- Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd, China Development Bank and Export-Import Bank of China —had sued Ambani in London for allegedly failing to repay $708 million of loans, including interests.
On February 7, Justice David Waksman of the UK court to pay $100 million in six weeks as part of an interim order.
The judge had ruled that he did not accept Ambani’s defence that his net worth was nearly zero or that his family would not step in to assist him when “push came to shove” to cover the conditional order amount of $100 million.
However, Justice Nigel Teare, in his order earlier this week also issued a court costs order in favour of the banks, adding a further 750,000 pounds to the overall amount owed.
According to the court order, the nearly $717 million to be paid by Ambani comprises of the principal amount outstanding under the Facility Agreement of $549,804,650.16; interest outstanding as of May 22 of $51,923,451.49; and default interest due of $115,189,579.86.