Hinduja Group firm emerges highest bidder with Rs 9,650 cr offer for Reliance Capital in second auction

A Hinduja Group firm on Wednesday emerged as the highest bidder with an offer of Rs 9,650 crore to take over debt-ridden Reliance Capital in the second round of auction, sources said.

The bid by IndusInd International Holdings Ltd (IIHL) is higher than Rs 8,640 crore offer made by Torrent Investments in the first round of auction held in December last year.

The other two suitors -- Torrent Investments and Oaktree -- did not participate in the second round of auction, sources said.

An e-mail sent to Hinduja Group for comment remained unanswered.

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The Committee of Creditors (CoC) had set a minimum bid amount of Rs 9,500 crore for the first round and Rs 10,000 crore for the second round, with an additional Rs 250 crore for subsequent rounds.

The CoC had also put a condition that all bids must have a minimum of Rs 8,000 crore upfront cash payment, sources said, adding, the IIHL bid of Rs 9,650 crore is an all upfront cash bid.

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 was mired into litigation after the first round of auction.

Following the closure of first round, the Hinduja Group firm submitted the bid post auction date.

IIHL offered an all-cash revised bid of Rs 9,000 crore after the completion of the auction as against an offer of Rs 8,110 crore in December. This was done even though lenders had expressed their intent to hold second round of auction.

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.

NCLAT ruled in favour of the lenders and allowed them to go for a second round of auction to maximise their recovery from the sale of Reliance Capital.

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.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on November 29, 2021, superseded the board of Reliance Capital in view of payment defaults and serious governance issues.

The RBI appointed Nageswara Rao Y as the administrator in relation to the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) of the firm.

Reliance Capital is the third large non-banking financial company (NBFC) against which the central bank has initiated bankruptcy proceedings under IBC. The other two were Srei Group NBFC and Dewan Housing Finance Corporation (DHFL).

The central bank subsequently filed an application for initiation of CIRP against the company at the Mumbai bench of NCLT.

In February last year, the RBI-appointed administrator invited expressions of interest for the sale of Reliance Capital.