Ruchi Soya: Patanjali gets time till May 7 for filing resolution plan

Patanjali Ayurved Wednesday sought more time from the National Company Law Tribunal to file a detailed resolution plan for edible oil firm Ruchi Soya which it has agreed to take over for Rs 4,325 crore.

The company owes Rs 9,345 crore to the lenders led by SBI who SBI, RamdevTuesday agreed, with around 96 per cent vote, to go with the second revised bid by the company promoted by yoga practitioner Ramdev.

Its initial offer was Rs 4,160 crore along with an Rs 1,700 crore working capital. The deal leaves the banks with a huge haircut of over 51 percent of the debt.

 

When contacted, Patanjali spokesman SK Tijarawala confirmed the bid approval. "We are informed about the development. Voting has gone in our favour. Tomorrow they would give us the voting result and then we would proceed further," he said.

Granting time to Patanjali, the tribunal comprising VP Singh and Ravikumar Duraisamy posted the matter for further hearing on May 7.

Patanjali almost got a walkover after rival Adani Wilmar decided to pull out from the race late last year despite being the highest bidder. With the acquisition of Ruchi Soya, Patanjali will become a major player in soyabean oils and other products.

In December 2017, NCLT had referred Ruchi Soya for insolvency on applications moved by Standard Chartered Bank and DBS Bank and appointed Shailendra Ajmera as the resolution professional.

 

Patanjali, the lone player left, had last month increased its bid value by around Rs 140 crore to Rs 4,350 crore. The offer excludes capital infusion of Rs 1,700 crore.

Ruchi Soya Industries owes over Rs 9,345 crore to financial creditors led by the State Bank, which has an exposure of Rs 1,800 crore, followed by Central Bank at Rs 816 crore, Punjab National Bank at Rs 743 crore and StanChart at Rs 608 crore.

Ruchi Soya has many plants and its leading brands include Nutrela, Mahakosh, Sunrich, Ruchi Star and Ruchi Gold and has one of the best functional and the largest infrastructure for soyabean," Patanjali's Tijarawala said, as the reason revising the bid upwards.

Adani Wilmar, which sells edible oil under the Fortune brand, was the highest bidder last August after a long-drawn battle with Patanjali. Adani Wilmar had then said the process was getting delayed as Patanjali moved the Mumbai NCLT.

Patanjali approached NCLT challenging the decision of Ruchi Soya's lenders to approve Adani Wilmar's bid. The deal would help the Haridwar-based firm, which is struggling to keep growth momentum that it had seen previously.

Patanjali, which was clocking multi-fold growth in recent years, saw a marginal growth in FY18, hit by GST, finishing at around Rs 12,000 crore. In FY17 it had a turnover of Rs 10,561 crore, registering 111 per cent growth.