Several firms have shown interest in acquiring debt-ridden Reliance Capital
new Delhi:
Adani Finserve, Piramal Finance and Poonawalla Finance are among 14 prominent firms that have shown interest in the acquisition of debt-ridden Reliance Capital Ltd, promoted by the Anil Ambani group, sources said.
The last date for submission of bids for the debt-ridden firm by an administrator appointed by the Reserve Bank was extended to March 25 from the previous scheduled date of March 11.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on November 29 last year superseded the board of Reliance Capital in view of payment defaults and serious governance issues.
It is the third largest non-banking financial company (NBFC) against which the central bank has recently initiated bankruptcy proceedings under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). The other two were Srei Group NBFCs and Dewan Housing Finance Corporation (DHFL).
Sources said the deadline has been extended on the request of some potential bidders, who have sought more time for submission of EoIs.
Arpwood, Verde Partners, Multiples Fund, Nippon Life, JC Flowers, Brookfield, Oaktree, Apollo Global, Blackstone and Hero Fincorp are other prominent companies that have submitted Expression of Interest (EoI) for Reliance Capital till March 11, he said.
According to sources, most of the bidders who submitted the EoI have bid for the entire company.
Bidders have two options – either they can bid for the entire Reliance Capital or one or more of the eight subsidiaries of the NBFC firm.
Reliance Capital’s subsidiaries include Reliance General Insurance, Reliance Nippon Life Insurance, Reliance Securities, Reliance Asset Reconstruction Company, Reliance Home Finance and Reliance Commercial Finance.
Following the takeover of the board, RBI appointed Nageswara Rao Y as the administrator in relation to the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) of the company.
RBI subsequently filed an application in the Mumbai Bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to initiate CIRP against the company.
Earlier in February this year, an RBI-appointed administrator had invited EoI for the sale of Reliance Capital.
In September, Reliance Capital at its annual general meeting (AGM) had informed shareholders that the company’s consolidated debt stood at Rs 40,000 crore. It had reported narrowing its consolidated net loss to Rs 1,759 crore for the quarter ended December 2021.