MUMBAI: In a big relief to debt-ridden Reliance Capital, the Supreme Court on Monday refused to stay the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) order on another round of auction for Reliance Capital undergoing insolvency process.
This development paved way for the Committee of Creditors (CoC) to hold second round of auction for RCap assets. The lenders are expected to hold the auction on March 29. Torrent Group had filed a plea before the SC for an urgent hearing, as the CoC for the insolvent Reliance Capital was scheduled to hold the second round of bidding on that date.
In the first round of the challenge mechanism, Torrent had emerged as the highest bidder with a bid amount of Rs 8,640 crore, while Hinduja Group firm IndusInd International Holdings (IIHL) was the second highest with Rs 8,110 crore bid. The first round of the auction ran into a legal tangle after the IIHL made an all-cash bid of Rs 9,000 crore to the lenders after the completion of the auction process.
Torrent challenged the IIHL bid in the NCLT, though the firm itself revised its own bid of Rs 8,640 crore by offering entire amount in cash upfront as against Rs 3,750 crore offered in the auction. The NCLT ruled in favour of Torrent and stayed the second round of auction, but the RCap lenders challenged the NCLT decision in the appellate tribunal, which ruled in their favour and allowed them to go ahead with the second round of auction.