Debt-ridden Indian operator Reliance Communications (RCom) reached a deal with Ericsson to pay INR5.5 billion ($81.3 million) to settle a long-standing legal dispute with the Swedish vendor, The Economic Times reported.

After both companies submitted settlement offers yesterday (30 May), the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal stopped the debt resolution proceedings ordered in mid-May by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).

The two companies held lengthy negotiations, with Ericsson sharply lowering the amount required to resolve the dispute. Ericsson originally was seeking to recover nearly INR10 billion in debt, the newspaper said.

RCom’s tower unit Reliance Infratel also recently reached a INR2.32 billion deal with its minority shareholders, led by HSBC Daisy Investments, regarding the sale of the tower and fibre assets.

Asset sale cleared
The settlements will allow the operator to move ahead with the sale of its wireless assets to Reliance Jio and repay lenders.

Two weeks ago RCom said it is in talks with Ericsson to sort the debt outside of bankruptcy court.

In mid-May NCLT accepted Ericsson’s request for RCom to face bankruptcy proceedings over the debt, which put into jeopardy RCom’s plans to sell most of its wireless assets valued at nearly INR250 billion to Jio.