Debt-strapped Future Retail (FRL) has finalised 48 companies, including group firms of Reliance Industries (RIL) and Adani, as eligible resolution applicants (RP) to bid for its assets through the ongoing insolvency process.

Further, the company’s resolution professional also received seven new applications after the expiry of the deadline for submitting Expressions of Interest (EoIs).

On Monday, FRL shares hit an upper-circuit and closed up 4.71% at ₹3.11 on the BSE.

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In the provisional list released on April 8, there were 49 prospective resolution applicants for FRL. Bommidala Enterprises is the entity that did not find a place in the final list released now.

Reliance Retail Ventures, a RIL group company, and April Moon Retail (a joint venture between Adani Airport Holdings and Flemingo Group) were among the companies finalised to bid for FRL. UK-based travel retailer WH Smith Travel, JC Flowers Asset Reconstruction, Burgundy Hospitality, IDFS Services, Pinnacle Air and a number of scrap dealers and waste recyclers have also found their place in the final list.

Earlier on March 23, FRL’s resolution professional had invited EoIs offering applicants to bid for the firm “as a going concern or individual cluster or a combination of clusters of its assets”.

The RP also received seven applications, mainly from scrap dealers, after the expiry of the deadline for submitting the EoIs. These include AJ Scrap Traders, All India Furniture, Darwin Platform Industries and Ferraille Global among others.

The RP has sought views of FRL’s Committee of Creditors (CoC), and a decision on it will be taken later. The final deadline to submit resolution plans is May 15.

On April 14, FRL had received the National Company Law Tribunal’s (NCLT) Mumbai bench’s approval to extend the date for completion of its Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) by another 90 days to July 15, after the earlier deadline ended on April 16.

Future Retail, which was admitted to insolvency after the company failed to meet its loan obligations, had been undergoing bankruptcy proceedings since July last year. Lenders had claimed dues worth ₹21,555 crore, of which ₹19,183 crore were admitted.

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Future Group founder Kishore Biyani, who had stepped down as the executive chairman and director of FRL on January 23, later withdrew his resignation in March after the resolution professional objected to the move.

In August 2020, RIL sealed a deal to acquire the retail business of Future Group for `24,713 crore, to fortify its retail play in India. However, lenders had rejected the takeover of the 19 Future group companies – including FRL, Future Enterprises, Future Consumer, Future Lifestyle Fashions and Future Supply Chain – by RIL as US e-commerce giant Amazon objected to the move.