Reliance Capital suitors seek extension of up to 4 months for submission of binding bids

Suitors for debt-ridden Reliance Capital Limited (RCL) have sought extension of up to 4 months for submission of binding bids as part of its resolution process.

US-based asset management fund Advent has sought extension by 16 weeks, while Piramal Finance has sought additional time of 12 weeks, that is till December, sources said.

As per the current timeline, the last date for submission of binding bids, along with Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) of Rs 75 crore, is September 29. There are other bidders also who have sought a similar extension of timeline for filing of binding bids, the sources said, adding IndusInd Bank has sought a 10 weeks' extension, Oaktree has asked for 12 weeks and Zurich Re has requested for 8 weeks extension, saying that due diligence would take time.

According to sources, the Committee of Creditors (CoC) will be meeting in the coming week to decide on a time extension to maximise the value for lenders and ensure maximum binding bids for Reliance Capital's assets. The timeline for filing of the final resolution plan with the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) is November 1, 2022.

Last month, six bids -- from Torrent, IndusInd Bank, Oaktree Capital, Cosmea Financial, Authum Investment, and B Right Group -- were received for the entire assets of Reliance Capital. These bids were in the range of Rs 4,500 crore for the company, which has eight different business verticals.

Three suitors -- Piramal Finance, Zurich Re, Advent -- have submitted bids between Rs 3,500 crore and Rs 7,000 crore only for Reliance General Insurance business. Two options were available for the bidders. Under the first option, bidders were required to submit bids for the entire RCL and in the second one, they had the choice to bid for specific verticals of the company.

Jindal Steel and Power and UV Asset Reconstruction Company have submitted bids for RCL's asset reconstruction business, sources said. Choice Equity and Global Fincap are among the bidders for other assets of RCL.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had on November 29 last year superseded the board of RCL in view of payment defaults and serious governance issues.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 company.

This is the third large non-banking financial company (NBFC) against which the central bank has initiated bankruptcy proceedings under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). The other two were Srei Group NBFC and Dewan Housing Finance Corporation (DHFL). The RBI subsequently filed an application for initiation of CIRP against the company at the Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal.

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