By Ankur Mishra
Patanjali Ayurved on Wednesday said that it had completed the transfer of the equity and debt portion for its acquisition of Ruchi Soya through proceedings under insolvency and bankruptcy resolution. In this deal, 75% of the acquisition is being financed by banks. Baba Ramdev-led Patanjali has infused Rs. 1,150 crore as equity and the remaining Rs. 3,200 crore has been raised through bank debt.
Patanjali Ayurved has taken a loan from a consortium of lenders led by State Bank of India. Patanjali has taken loan of Rs. 1,200 crore from SBI, Rs. 700 crore from Punjab National Bank, Rs. 600 crore from Union Bank of India, Rs. 400 crore from Syndicate Bank and Rs. 300 crore from Allahabad Bank. A banking source which did not wish to be named said, “The loan given by banks will be treated as fresh disbursal, as it is given to entirely new entity. This will now be termed as sustainable loan for banks.”
The resolution of Ruchi Soya will come as boost for banks in the quarterly earnings as they will be able to write back the amount received from the resolution. Earlier on Tuesday, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) granted another extension, of one week, Patanjali Ayurved for completion of Rs. 4,350-crore resolution plan for Ruchi Soya. A three-member NCLAT bench headed by chairperson Justice S J Mukhopadhaya extended the deadline to December 23. The company says extension for resolution was sought as a precautionary measure.
On April 30 , 2019, committee of creditors had approved Patanjali group’s Rs. 4,350 crore resolution plan to take over Ruchi Soya. Later in September this year, Patanjali Ayurved had received approval of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to acquire Ruchi Soya. Ruchi Soya went into insolvency in December 2017.
