Srei CoC offers window for resolution applicants to revise bids by Dec 15

The Consolidated Committee of Creditors (CoC) of two debt-ridden Srei companies are likely to ask bidders to improve their resolution plans by December 15, a top official said on Sunday.

The CoC, however, remains committed to the January 5 (2023) deadline offered by the adjudicating authority to complete the corporate insolvency resolution process, he said.

The Kolkata-based Srei Infrastructure Finance Ltd (SIFL) and Srei Equipment Finance Ltd (SEFL), which are undergoing a resolution process in the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), have received three bids.

"Intense negotiations are taking place with each of the bidders, and after another meeting slated on December 12, bidders will be offered to submit their revised bids by December 15," a top official involved in the process told PTI.

The CoC will "vote on the resolution plans after the revised bids are submitted and the RBI nod will be taken" before submitting to the NCLT, he said.

"The deadline of January 5 to conclude the resolution process will be met," the official stated.

RBI-appointed Srei administrator Rajneesh Sharma could not be reached for his comment.

The CoC has been holding internal meetings besides deliberating with the three bidders -- Varde Partners and Arena consortium, National Asset Reconstruction Co Ltd and Authum Investment and Infrastructure -- in Mumbai for Srei group's NBFCs.

The consortium of Varde Partners and Arena has submitted a bid value of Rs 14,000 crore, while NARCL sent a resolution plan worth Rs 13,500 crore, a government official, who attended the meetings, told PTI.

The third bid from Authum Investment and Infrastructure is valued at Rs 7,000 crore, he said.

The value of resolution plans could not be independently verified.

The total value of resolution plans submitted by the applicants involves upfront cash payout, deferred payments through instruments like NCDs and OCDs. The timeline to clear the debt ranges between three and seven years.

Authum's cash payout component was the highest at Rs 2,800 crore and it proposed to complete the payout of total committed value within 3.5 years. The other two bidders will take 5-7 years to clear the payments, the official said.

In contrary to banks' expectations, NARCL is not able to offer the government guarantee for deferred payment instruments, he said.

"NARCL has stated that government guarantees are applicable only in nomination cases where banks directly transfer an asset to NARCL and not in an asset acquired through a bidding process," the official said.

The three bidders were among 17 final potential resolution applicants for the two companies of the Srei group.

Big names, like Capri Global and AM Mining, a subsidiary of ArcelorMittal, were on the final list of potential resolution applicants. However, they did not submit resolution plans and opted out of the race.

After the insolvency petitions filed by the Reserve Bank of India were approved by the Kolkata bench of the National Company Law Tribunal, proceedings against SIFL and its subsidiary SEFL began in October 2021.

The resolution process is scheduled to be completed by January 5, 2023.

Financial creditors have admitted claims totalling around Rs 32,000 crore.

Financial lenders of the two Srei companies include State Bank of India, Punjab and Sind Bank, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, Union Bank of India, IDBI Bank, UCO Bank, and Indian Overseas Bank.