The deadline for submission of expression of interest for debt-ridden Future Retail Ltd (FRL) has been extended by almost two weeks to November 3. As per the modified invitation of expression of interest (EoI) for the Future Group firm undergoing the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP), the last date for the prospective buyers to submit their EOI is November 3.
Earlier, the last date for the prospective resolution applicants (PRA) to submit the EoI was October 20, 2022. Now, a final list of PRAs will be published on November 20, 2022, and the deadline for the submission of the resolution plan is December 15, 2022, as per the modified invitation for submitting EoI.
"It is clarified that the EOIs submitted by all interested prospective resolution applicants… prior to this corrigendum and Modified IEOI shall continue to be considered in the ongoing corporate insolvency resolution process of FRL and need not be resubmitted," it added. PRAs should have a minimum tangible net worth of Rs 100 crore along with minimum assets under management (AUM)/committed funds available for investment of Rs 250 crore.
As of September 2, 2022, the resolution professional (RP) has received claims of Rs 21,432.82 crore from financial creditors, which mainly include banks and financial institutions. Operational creditors of the Future group firm have filed claims worth Rs 2,464.41 crore, according to the documents uploaded on the FRL website.
Besides, it has received claims worth Rs 55.13 crore from workmen/ employees for their dues. The RP has also received claims from statutory operational creditors, such as ESIC, VAT, and GST departments, of Rs 58.36 crore. As per the EOI invitation document, FRL currently has access to 302 leased retail stores spread across 23 states and Union territories, consisting of 30 large format stores such as Big Bazaar and FBB stores and 272 small format stores.
The Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) had on July 20 directed initiating CIRP against FRL, admitting a plea filed by the Bank of India.
Section 12 (1) of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) mandates a CIRP to be completed within a time frame of 180 days from the date of admission of the application. However, under the request of the RP, the NCLT can extend the duration by another 90 days.
It should be mandatorily completed within 330 days, including any extension and the time taken in legal proceedings. FRL was part of the 19 group companies operating in retail, wholesale, logistics, and warehousing segments which were supposed to be transferred to Reliance Retail as part of a Rs 24,713-crore deal announced in August 2020.
The deal was called off by the billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd in April. After that, FRL committed several defaults on payments.
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