Reliance Commercial Finance lenders approve debt-resolution plan with Authum as successful bidder
NEW DELHI: The lenders of the Reliance Commercial Finance (RCF) have approved the resolution plan for the company and have selected Authum Investment and Infrastructure Ltd as the successful bidder, Reliance Capital said on Monday.
Authum is expected to take over RCF for about Rs 1,600 crore.
Reliance Commercial Finance -- a company of debt-ridden Anil Ambani-promoted Reliance Group -- is a fully-owned subsidiary of Reliance Capital Ltd.
"The board of directors of RCF have taken note of the resolution plan approved by the lenders, forming part of the inter-creditor agreement (ICA lenders) under RBI's prudential framework for resolution of stressed assets," Reliance Capital said in a regulatory filing.
Lenders selected Authum Investment and Infrastructure Limited (Authum) as the successful bidder to acquire the company and/or all its assets through a competitive bidding process after several rounds of negotiations between the bidders and the lenders.
"The ICA lenders with Bank of Baroda as the lead bank have received initial expression of interest from over 18 bidders, of which 4 binding bids were shortlisted and the final successful bidder was selected," it added.
Reliance Capital said Authum's debt resolution plan is approved under RBI's Prudential Framework for Resolution of Stressed Assets, Directions dated June 7, 2019.
The implementation of the resolution plan by the successful bidder is subject to the approval of non-ICA lenders, shareholders, regulatory authorities, and the vacation of existing legal injunctions on the company.
This is the second Reliance Group company for which Authum has emerged as a winner.
Last month, a consortium of lenders led by Bank of Baroda had cleared a proposal of Authum to acquire Reliance Home Finance (RHF) as part of the resolution process.
Authum is a domestic NBFC with around 15 years of presence and over Rs 2,400 crore net worth as of June 2021.
RCF's resolution will result in overall debt reduction of Reliance Capital by over Rs 9,000 crore.
Shares of Reliance Capital were trading 1.50 per cent up at Rs 20.25 apiece on BSE.