Future Group’s creditors are exploring options to recover more than $2.5 billion in loans, amid worries the Indian retailer’s planned sale of assets to Reliance Industries could fail, four bankers with knowledge of the matter said.

Future may face liquidation if the deal, already mired in legal wrangling, falls through and banks are actively discussing an alternate one-time restructuring option that could include an easier repayment tenure and fresh capital infusion, the people said on condition of anonymity as the talks are private.

“Without Reliance, there is no future for Future,” one of the bankers at a major state-owned lender said.

Bankers have discussed a restructuring plan in the past week and are drawing up a blueprint, the sources said.

Future’s top financial creditors include India’s largest lender State Bank of India, along with smaller rivals Bank of Baroda and Bank of India.

The three banks, Future Group and Reliance did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Future, India’s No.2 retailer with more than 1,700 stores, has been hit hard by the pandemic and agreed to sell most of its retail assets to Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance in a $3.4 billion deal.

The transaction, however, has faced legal hurdles with e-commerce giant Amazon.com alleging that Future, by agreeing to sell assets to Reliance, was violating terms of a deal the US firm had struck with a Future Group entity.

Future denies any wrongdoing.

The deal was temporarily blocked by the Delhi high court but subsequently the order was struck down. Amazon has now taken the matter to the Supreme Court.

The Future-Reliance deal will help creditors recover up to 80 per cent of their dues, the four bankers estimate.

The troubled retailer’s over $2.5 billion debt includes loans from banks and money owed to operational creditors.

SAT relief for Biyani

The Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) has stayed the order passed by market regulator Sebi that had put a one-year ban on Future Retail chairperson Kishore Biyani and some other promoters from the securities market.

SAT has also directed the Future Group promoters to deposit a sum of Rs 11 crore as an interim measure.