Jaypee Infra lenders to put bids of NBCC, Suraksha on vote simultaneously

Lenders of Jaypee Infratech on Saturday decided to put on vote simultaneously the bids of state-owned NBCC Ltd and Suraksha Realty to acquire the bankrupt realty firm, sources said.

The voting process will start on December 10 and end on December 16, they added.

A decision in this regard was taken in a meeting of Committee of Creditors (CoC) held here. This is the third round of bidding process, which has been initiated on the direction of the apex court.

According to the sources, ICICI and Axis Bank opposed the decision to put both the resolution plans on vote at the same time and said that bid of the highest bidder (H1) should have voted first.

Lenders were divided over which bid is the highest.

As many as 13 banks and over 23,000 homebuyers have voting rights in the CoC. Buyers have nearly 60 per cent votes. For a bid to be approved, 66 per cent votes are required. Homebuyers claim amounting to over Rs 13,000 crore has been admitted, while banks claim is worth Rs 9,800 crore.

Jaypee Infratech, a subsidiary of crisis-hit Jaiprakash Associates, went into insolvency process in August 2017 after the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) admitted an application by an IDBI Bank-led consortium.

Anuj Jain was appointed as an interim resolution professional (IRP) to conduct insolvency process and also manage the affairs of the company.

In the first round of insolvency proceedings conducted last year, Rs 7,350-crore bid of Lakshdeep, part of Suraksha Group, was rejected by lenders.

The CoC rejected the bids of Suraksha Realty and NBCC in the second round held in May-June this year.

The matter reached to the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) and then the Supreme Court.

On November 6, the Supreme Court directed completion of Jaypee Infratech''s insolvency process within 90 days and said the revised resolution plan will be invited only from NBCC and Suraksha Realty.

On Saturday, Mumbai-based Suraksha Realty further improved its bid to acquire Jaypee Infratech by offering more land and upfront cash to lenders.

Suraksha Realty has increased its upfront payment to lenders to Rs 190 crore from Rs 175 crore, while ssize of land-debt swap improved to 2,275 acre from 2,220 acre in its final bid submitted on December 3.

NBCC in its final bid offered 1,526 acres of land to lenders.