Hinduja co emerges sole bidder for Reliance Capital with Rs 9,650 cr offer

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IndusInd International Holdings Ltd (IIHL), a Hinduja Group firm emerged as the highest bidder to take over Reliance Capital. The company made an offer of Rs 9,650 crore in the secound round of auction held by the creditors of Reliance Capital.

This bid higher than the Rs 8,640 cr made by Torrent Investment  in the first round in December last year. Two other suitors who had decided to take part in the bidding — Torrent Investments and Oaktree — did not participate in the second roun.

SC allowed second round

The second round of auction was held on Wednesday after the Supreme Court allowed the lenders to go ahead with the extended challenge mechanism in order to maximise the recovery from the sale of Reliance Capital’s assets. However, according to sources, any decision on the resolution of Reliance Capital by the CoC will be subject to the outcome of the SC’s judgement in the appeal filed by Torrent Investments.

The resolution process of Reliance Capital went into litigation after the first round of auction. Torrent was the highest bidder with Rs 8,640 cr in the first auction, but the Hinduja Group firm submitted a bid of Rs 9,000 crore after the auction closed. Initially IIHL had bid Rs 8,110 cr in the first round.

This post-auction bid is being contested by Torrent Investments in the Supreme Court as it was the highest bidder in the first round of auction.

Torrent challenged IIHL’s revised bid and the lenders’ decision to conduct second round of auction in NCLT Mumbai. The NCLT ruled in favour of Torrent and the lenders of Reliance Capital challenged the order in NCLAT which ruled in favour of the lenders to maximise the recovery. Torrent challenged the NCLAT order in the the Supreme Court, which refused to stay the NCLAT order and allowed the lenders to go ahead with second round of auction.

Meanwhile, the Mumbai-bench of National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has extended the deadline for completing the resolution process of RCap by three months to July 16.