MUMBAI: Deccan Chronicle Holdings Ltd (DCHL), which owns the IPL franchise Deccan Charges and a clutch of newspapers, is in financial trouble. While the Industrial Finance Corporation of India (IFCI) has filed a winding-up petition against the company in the Andhra Pradesh High Court, the promoters have further pledged another 14.5 per cent of their shares to Religare Finvest.

IFCI has contended that DCHL‘s liabilities may lead to the erosion of the entire net worth of the company and make it commercially unviable and insolvent.

The public financial institution said it was worried about Deccan Chronicle‘s financial health and sought the winding up of the company to recover its dues.

The petition was filed by IFCI on Friday after DCHL defaulted on redemption of 250 unsecured redeemable non-convertible debentures (NCDs). The company defaulted on dues worth Rs 278.4 million.

In 2011, the IFCI had invested about Rs 250 million through 250 NCDs in Deccan Chronicle, which were to mature on 26 June this year and carried a coupon of 11.25 per cent.

A few days back, DCHL promoters had pledged 54 per cent stake in the company to Future Capital.

In a disclosure to the bourses on Monday, Religare Finvest said that a little more than 30.2 million shares of DCHL "have been pledged/available in collateral given by the various clients as a security to secure the loan against securities facility".

The promoter holding in DCHL at the end of June 2012 was 73.83 per cent with T Venkaram Reddy, T Vinayak Ravi Reddy and P K Iyer owning 24.61 per cent stake each, according to information on the National Stock Exchange.