More than 10,000 homebuyers and major lenders of Jaypee Infratech, including IDBI Bank and State Bank of India (SBI), have voted in favour of the resolution plan submitted by the government's construction arm NBCC to acquire the embattled real estate firm.
Around 1,000 buyers have taken a cautious approach, voting for both NBCC and Suraksha Realty to avoid a scenario wherein the company may be forced into liquidation, sources told Moneycontrol.
The voting process began on December 10 and ended on December 16. Postal ballots can be filed with the interim resolution professional until December 17. This is the third round of bidding, which has been initiated on the direction of the apex court.
Most homebuyers have voted in favour of NBCC, while some lenders including IDBI, SBI and IIFCL have supported the resolution plan of NBCC. Final voting results are yet to be declared.
As many as 13 banks and over 23,000 homebuyers have voting rights in the Committee of Creditors (CoC). Buyers have around 58 percent votes. For a bid to be approved, 66 percent votes are required.
Lenders of Jaypee Infratech, in the last CoC meet held on December 7, had decided that homebuyers and lenders of Jaypee Infratech will vote simultaneously on bids of both state-owned NBCC and private sector firm Suraksha Realty.
Next steps going forward
Once the voting results are declared, the interim resolution professional Anuj Jain would file a report with the adjudicating authority, which in this case is National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) Allahabad, before December 21.
The day would mark the 45th day since the apex court gave its directions.
NCLT would issue the final order within the next 45 days, legal sources said.
The company that wins the bid will then be handed over the letter of intent (LoI), which is an agreement that confirms the course of action that will be taken post the takeover of Jaypee Infratech, sources said, adding that the successful bidder will also have to submit a performance bank guarantee.
In all likelihood, after the NCLT issues its order, the company that takes over Jaypee Infratech may take another 90 days to be ready with the formalities such as final tower-wise completion schedule, collecting data required to prepare tenders.
Actual construction of the stuck projects may start not before April, sources told Moneycontrol.
What has happened so far?Suraksha Realty, in its revised resolution plan, has increased its upfront payment to lenders to Rs 190 crore from Rs 175 crore, while size of land-debt swap improved to 2,275 acre from 2,220 acre in its final bid submitted on December 3.
NBCC in its final bid has offered 1,526 acres to lenders.
For homebuyers, NBCC has proposed to complete pending about 20,000 flats in three-and-a-half years, while Suraksha in three years.
During the meeting earlier this month, some banks had opposed the decision to put both the resolution plans to vote at the same time as they wanted the bid of highest bidder (H1) to be the first. However, lenders could not finalise on H1 and H2 (second highest bidder) and therefore decided to opt for simultaneous voting.
Jaypee Infratech, a subsidiary of crisis-hit Jaiprakash Associates, went into insolvency process in August 2017 after NCLT admitted an application by an IDBI Bank-led consortium.
In the first round of insolvency proceedings conducted last year, Rs 7,350-crore bid of Lakshdeep, part of Suraksha Group, was rejected by lenders.
The CoC rejected the bids of Suraksha Realty and NBCC in the second round held in May-June.
The matter reached to the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) and then the Supreme Court.
On November 6, the Supreme Court directed completion of Jaypee Infratech's insolvency process within 90 days, adding that the revised resolution plan would be invited only from NBCC and Suraksha Realty.
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