Gail top bidder for IL&FS wind power plants with Rs 4,800-crore offer

State-owned Gail (India) has emerged as the highest bidder for seven operating wind power plants of Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FS) having a total generation capacity of 874 megawatts. This is a first major transaction in making for resolution of assets of IL&FS.
 
Gail has offered Rs 4,800 crore for the wind projects, which will fetch the beleaguered group 100 per cent of the enterprise value, thereby resulting in no hair cut to the debt of the SPVs. The total debt of the Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) is to the tune of Rs 3,700 crore, IL&FS said in a statement.

 
The proposal has been unanimously approved by the Committee of Creditors (CoC) of IL&FS Wind Energy Limited (IWEL), which majorly owns the SPVs.
 

However, ORIX Japan, the other shareholder in the wind energy assets, has not approved the sale yet. But, the company says, they are engaging with them and closure is expected in the next three weeks.
 
The sale process for wind energy assets of IL&FS Group has reached an advanced stage, said the company.
 
The monetisation of wind assets was launched through a public invitation for expressions of interest on November 29, 2018. The beleaguered group is selling its assets as a part of the government appointed board’s strategy to restructure the group. The IL&FS group has hired Arpwood Capital and JM Financial as the financial and transaction advisers. Also, Alvarez Marsal has been hired as the bankruptcy resolution consultant.

 
“The sale proceeds, as and when realised by IWEL, shall be held in trust for distribution to the relevant stakeholders, in accordance with the resolution framework filed with the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) by the Union of India,” the company said in a statement.
 
Moreover, the conclusion of the sale process will also be subject to approval of Justice (Retd) D K Jain and NCLT in accordance with the resolution framework.
On April 3, the board presented a status update of IL&FS’ financial health and the various steps they have undertaken to resolve the crisis and expressed confidence that they will be able to achieve the resolution of the group in an accelerated manner.

 
“The sale of assets, including education, funds, roads and thermal power plant are underway and binding financial bids are expected for these companies/businesses in stages by May 2019,” the company said.
 
Group entities of the beleaguered IL&FS began to default due to asset liability mismatch in second quarter of FY19. Its payment obligations on maturing loans were far more than its cash flows. The defaults by IL&FS entities caused liquidity squeeze in the markets, affecting the NBFCs and HFCs adversely. The group companies have a total debt of more than Rs 94,000 crore.
 
Of the Rs 94,000 crore debt that the group owes, state owned lenders with an exposure of Rs 35,382 crore (secured and un-secured) are the worst hit because of the group’s defaults, followed by investors holding non-convertible debentures of IL&FS having an exposure of Rs 25,767 crore.