Debt-ridden Reliance Capital's lenders fix April 26 as new date for second auction

Debt-ridden Reliance Capital's lenders have fixed April 26 as the latest date for the second round of auction, which was earlier scheduled to be held on April 11. The Committee of Creditors (CoC) decided on the new date in a meeting held on Tuesday. The bidders who will participate in the second round of auction are Hinduja Group's IndusInd International Holdings Ltd (IIHL), Singapore-based Oaktree and Torrent Investment, news agency PTI reported citing sources.

Compliance of the resolution plan with the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) and Request for Resolution Plan (RFRP) will remain a major bone of contention for the bidders. The Hinduja Group company submitted the bid post-auction date in the first round of auction. Torrent Investment is contesting this post-auction bidding in the Supreme Court since it was the highest bidder. The Committee of Creditors will also have to incorporate the Supreme Court order in the Challenge Mechanism.

Meanwhile, the administrator has also moved the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) seeking an extension of the deadline to complete the resolution process to May 30. The deadline to complete Reliance Capital's resolution process has been extended many times before as well. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) superseded the Reliance Capital board in November 2021 citing payment defaults and governance issues. The central bank appointed Nageswara Rao Y as the administrator for the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) of R-Cap.

The RBI-appointed administrator invited expressions of interest (EOIs) for the sale of Reliance Capital in February 2022. Anil Ambani's R-Cap is the third NBFC after Srei Group NBFC and Dewan Housing Finance Corporation (DHFL) against which the central bank has initiated bankruptcy proceedings under the IBC. Subsequently, it also filed an application for initiating CIRP against the company at the Mumbai bench of the NCLT.

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