Few takers for IIBI`s assets

The process of winding up Kolkata-based Industrial Investment Bank of India (IIBI) has run into rough weather as the bid process received a poor response and most bids fell short of the reserve price.

The finance ministry has now stepped in, seeking all the details and calling for the bid documents.

“There was no response for most categories and when there were some players, the bids were well below the reserve price,” a senior executive involved with the sale said. The process was scheduled to be completed by July 15, but there are no fresh timelines.

A bidder said assets that should have been treated as bad debt were classified as performing and therefore the bids were low.

IIBI, the erstwhile development financial institution, wanted to sell both standard and non-performing assets and properties spread across the four metros and use the proceeds to clear all its liabilities.

When the sale process started in May, private banks such as Deutsche Bank, Yes Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Standard Chartered Bank, non-banking finance companies such as IFCI and asset reconstruction companies including Arcil had evinced an interest in buying the standard assets estimated at around Rs 500 crore.

The real estate and NPAs worth Rs 950 crore were part of a separate integrated basket. Standalone NPAs were categorised into 25 buckets of Rs 40 crore each.

The due diligence of all the asset baskets concluded on June 9 and the bids were to be submitted by June 20.

“The ministry was not happy with the way the entire process was dealt with. There is a possibility that the entire process may be restarted,” an executive said.