Reliance Capital Insolvency Resolution Process: Torrent sweetens bid by increasing upfront payment

Modifying its bid for acquiring debt-ridden Reliance Capital Ltd (RCL), Torrent Group on Friday offered to pay upfront its previously committed bid amount instead of deferred payment.

According to PTI sources, the Ahmedabad-based Torrent Group is offering to pay the entire bid amount of Rs 8,640 crore as upfront cash while maintaining the Net Present Value (NPV) of Rs 8,640 crore quoted during the auction.

Earlier, sources said, it had made an offer Rs 3,750 crore as cash upfront and the balance in deferred payments.

As per the laid down process by the lenders, the payment terms and other terms and conditions of the resolution plans were subject to negotiations between lenders and bidders post the auction.

Hinduja Group, the promoter of IndusInd Bank, had revised its offer from Rs 8,110 crore to Rs 9,000 crore a day after the e-auction.

Following this, the Torrent Group moved the Mumbai bench of NCLT, which stayed the resolution process.

This is the first time that an e-auction of this scale is taking place for the resolution of an NBFC (non-banking financial company) under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).

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The decision of e-auction was taken at the behest of LIC and EPFO, which together control 35 per cent of the voting rights in the Committee of Creditors (CoC).

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had on November 29 last year superseded the board of RCL because of payment defaults and serious governance issues.

The RBI appointed Nageswara Rao Y as the administrator in relation to the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) of the firm.

RCL is the third large NBFC against which the central bank has initiated bankruptcy proceedings under IBC.

The other two were Srei Group NBFC and Dewan Housing Finance Corporation. The RBI subsequently filed an application for initiation of CIRP against the company at the Mumbai bench of NCLT.

In February this year, the RBI-appointed administrator invited expressions of interest for the sale of RCL.

With PTI Inputs