Franklin Templeton MF Receives Rs 1,252 Crore Payment From Vodafone Idea

Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund on Friday said it has received a payment of Rs 1,252 crore from Vodafone Idea Ltd, which will be distributed among investors of the segregated portfolios.

There are six schemes -- Franklin India Ultra Short Bond Fund, Franklin India Low Duration, Franklin India Short Term Income Plan, Franklin India Credit Risk Fund, Franklin India Dynamic Accrual Fund, and Franklin India Income Opportunities Fund -- that had made investments in Vodafone Idea.

Franklin Templeton MF side-pocketed its exposure in the telecom player and from January 24, various securities issued by Vodafone Idea in the schemes were segregated from the total portfolio.

Creation of segregated portfolios is a mechanism to separate distressed, illiquid and hard-to-value assets from other more liquid assets in a portfolio.

"We wish to inform that further to the annual interest payment received on June 12, 2020, for the security '8.25 per cent Vodafone Idea Ltd (July 10, 2020)' held in the ... segregated portfolios, we have now received the full value of the principal due, along with interest for the period June 12 to July 9, 2020," the fund house said.

A total of Rs 1,252.44 crore has been received, which will be distributed to unit holders of the segregated portfolio, it added.

Last month, the fund house said it has received an interest payment of about Rs 103 crore from Vodafone Idea.

"The net asset value per unit (NAV) or payment price per unit (PPU) for the plans of the above schemes is computed as the total amount available for distribution in the respective plans divided by the total outstanding units in the plans," the fund house said.

It added that the amount payable to unit holders will be the NAV or PPU multiplied by the total outstanding units that will be extinguished in settlement of the above segregated portfolios.

In January, Franklin Templeton, which had an exposure of over Rs 2,000 crore to Vodafone Idea in six of its schemes, had marked down its investment in the securities issued by the telecom player to zero.

The fund house had marked down the schemes after the Supreme Court rejected the telecom player''s review plea related to over Rs 40,000 crore adjusted gross revenue (AGR)-related dues to the government.