The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Tuesday approved the acquisition of Reliance Capital (RCL) by Hinduja group firm IndusInd International Holdings Ltd (IIHL).
A two-member bench of the tribunal comprising Prabhat Kumar, member (technical), and Justice V.G. Bisht endorsed the resolution plan submitted by IIHL.
In November 2021, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had superseded the board of the Anil Ambani group firm on governance issues and payment defaults.
Subsequently, on December 2, 2021, the RBI filed a petition before the tribunal for initiating the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) of RCL. It had appointed Nageswara Rao Y as the administrator, who invited bids in February 2022 to take over the company.
After the CIRP process began, claims of over Rs 38,500 crore were made by various creditors, of which Rs 26,087 crore was admitted. The resolution plan submitted by IIHL proposed a payment of Rs 9,661 crore. Further, Reliance Capital’s cash balance of Rs 500 crore would also go to the lenders. Sources said that while the secured debt of RCL stood at Rs 16,000 crore, as lenders will receive nearly Rs 10,200 crore, the amount of recovery stands at 65 per cent.
Initially, four applicants had submitted their resolution plans. However, the committee of creditors rejected all the four plans for lower bid values and a challenge mechanism was initiated where IIHL and Torrent Investments participated.
In June 2023, the Hinduja Group firm was selected by the lenders for its bid of Rs 9,661 crore upfront cash.
