Debt-laden Reliance Capital’s (RCap) insolvency proceedings received a tepid response, with just four firms evincing interest in the entire assets of the former Anil Ambani group firm. However, there were no takers for Reliance Nippon Life Insurance.
Under option-1, wherein bids were called for the total assets of the company, the administrator received bids from IndusInd Bank, Torrent Group, Oaktree Capital and B Right Real Estate. These bids were in the range of Rs 4,000 crore, sources close to the development said.
Nearly five companies were in the fray under option-2, where they could bid for eight different businesses or clusters of RCap that included general insurance, life insurance and securities business among others.
Advent International, Zurich Insurance, and a consortium led by Piramal Enterprises have placed bids for Reliance General Insurance, while Jindal Steel & Power and New Delhi-based UV Asset Reconstruction Company (UVARC) submitted bids for Reliance Capital’s Asset Reconstruction Company business. However, there were no bidders for Reliance Nippon Life Insurance.
Also read: Coal India Rating: buy; Strong demand to boost earnings
RCap’s clusters that were put under option 2 included Reliance General Insurance, Reliance Nippon Life Insurance, Reliance Asset Reconstruction Company, Reliance Securities, Reliance Commercial Finance and Reliance Home Finance.
There were three bidders for the assorted assets — Choice Equity, Global Fincap and Grand Bhawan — of RCap, they said, adding the deadline to submit the bids ended on Monday.
The interest under both options was poor, considering that 54 companies had earlier submitted Expressions of Interests (EoIs) during the initial stages of the bankruptcy process.
A couple of the bidders have also sought a further extension of the final date of submission, which had been deferred five times now. The final deadline to complete the entire bankruptcy process ends on November 1, 2022.
RCap is currently undergoing insolvency proceedings, with the creditors of the company seeking Rs 23,666 crore in dues.
Also read: Large steel players may face twin blows from export duty, shows CRISIL research
Earlier on November 29, 2021, the Reserve Bank of India superseded RCap’s board following payment defaults and governance issues and appointed Nageswara Rao Y as the administrator for the bankruptcy process.
The regulator also filed an application for initiation of the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) against RCap before the National Company Law Tribunal’s (NCLT) Mumbai bench. In February this year, RBI appointed administrator invited EoIs for the sale of Reliance Capital assets and subsidiaries.