Piramal Enterprises on Friday has asked the Committee of Creditors (CoC) to reject Adani Properties' proposal to bid for the entire portfolio of the troubled non-banking finance company Dewan Housing Finance Corporation (DHFL) or it would withdraw from the process, sources privy to the developments told CNBC-TV18.
This comes after Adani Properties, in a letter to the CoC, said it intends to revise its bid for DHFL, and bid for the entire portfolio instead of just the wholesale and SRA assets, according to multiple people familiar with the development said.
Adani Properties is believed to have proposed that it would offer more than Oaktree Capital, which is currently the sole bidder for the entire book with an offer of Rs 31,000 crore, said people familiar with the matter.
Piramal Enterprises has strongly protested the move, calling Adani's proposal to change its bid after the deadline disruptive and vitiated, CNBC-TV18 has learned.
In a letter written to the RBI-appointed administrator on November 13, Piramal Enterprises said, "the manner and timing of submission of such a resolution plan is intended to disrupt and vitiate the process being followed under the current RFRP and undermine the considerable time and effort invested by us and other participants in submitting our resolution plans faithfully in accordance with the provisions of the RFRP and applicable law," CNBC-TV18 has reviewed a copy of the letter.
"Unless the CoC determines in its wisdom that none of the resolution plans currently submitted are satisfactory and subsequently, reissue a request for resolution plans, the Administrator shall not be able to accept or consider any other resolution plan from any of the resolution applicants. Given that the unsolicited offer submitted by the Offeree is not in accordance with the process provided for under applicable law, it is clear that the Administrator and CoC will not have the ability to accept, examine and/ or consider such an offer," the letter said.
Piramal Enterprises said that the "timing of the submission of the unsolicited offer, which is a few days after the details of the revised resolution plans (including the financial proposals) of all resolution applicants have become widely available, is also extremely suspicious," and added that they had reasons to believe that the details of their Resolution Plan "may have been leaked and have been considered for the purpose of making such an unsolicited offer."
Asking the CoC and administrator to disregard Adani Properties' new offer, Piramal said, "We hereby reserve all our rights under law and equity to seek appropriate redressal, including withdrawing from the current corporate insolvency process for DHFL, if the unsolicited offer of the Offeree is considered and/or the process set out the RFRP, the IBC and the CIRP Regulations is not duly followed."
Earlier, suitors for DHFL raised their offer price in the revised bids submitted for the company. Adani Group, Piramal Enterprises, US-based Oaktree, and Hong Kong-based SC Lowy have submitted a 10-70 percent higher price for either a stake in the company or buying out some of its assets.
DHFL promoter Kapil Wadhawan had proposed to transfer the rights, title, and interest in at least 10 projects valued at Rs 43,879 crore and settle the dues with banks. Wadhawan has written to the Reserve Bank of India-appointed administrator Subramaniakumar saying that their offer would ensure maximum value for the assets that have been put on the block. The lenders, however, are not considering the offer from the promoters.
Promoters hold about 39.21 percent stake in DHFL. Bankers want promoters' stake to fall below 10 percent after the stake sale as part of the resolution plan. The CoC was hoping to finalise the resolution plan by November 16 before it could send it to the RBI for review. Last month, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) had allowed 90 days extension for the resolution process till January 5.
Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
