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Adani Group and Reliance Industries are among the 16 bidders who have sent their expressions of interest (EoI) to acquire the assets of bankrupt Future Retail. WHSmith Travel Limited and Capri Global Holdings Limited have also shown interest, said banking sources.
The biggest known players who have expressed interest in the company are Reliance Retail Venture Limited and April Moon Retail Private Limited (JV between Adani Airport holding Limited and promoters of Flemingo Group). Earlier this year, Reliance Retail had agreed to buy Future Retail and six other entities’ assets for ₹24,713 crore. This bid was rejected by the stakeholders.
The other interesting contender is April Moon. Over the past 18 months, Adani Group has had a rapid expansion in its airports business. It already has eight airports under its umbrella. Flemingo Group, on the other hand, is a renowned duty-free player. Both these companies have formed a joint venture which has bid for Future Retail. Future Retail’s brands have a significant presence at airports. According to sources, it owns monies to the airports too.
Other players include Dharampal Satyapal Limited, Dickey Alternative Investment Trust (DAIT), Shalimar Corporation Limited, SNVK Hospitality and Management Pvt Limited, Consortium between B-right Realestate Limited and Ayekart Fintech Pvt Ltd, United Biotech Private Limited, Bommidala Enterprises Private Limited, Nalwa Steel & Power Limited, Gordon and Payard, UV Multiple Asset Investment Trust-UV Special Situation fund, consortium between Bhumireddy Gari Mohan Reddy, Rajendra Kumar Goel and Naveen. UV stressed asset management in consortium with Suruchi Foods too had expressed interest, but later withdrew their EoI.
The process hereon will be to vet the eligibility of the players who have expressed interest. After this, a list of eligible potential bidders will be released. Post that, sources said, “The eligible bidders will get access to the data room of Future Retail where they can access important documents, evaluate assets and debts among other things. Once this process is over, the eligible bidders can place a bid.” The entire process could take up to three months.
The deadline for the submission of the resolution plan is December 15, 2022, as per the modified invitation for submitting EoI.
Prospective resolution applicants should have a minimum tangible net worth of ₹100 crore along with minimum assets under management (AUM)/committed funds available for investment of ₹250 crore. As of September 2, the resolution professional (RP) has received claims of ₹21,432.82 crore from financial creditors, which mainly include banks and financial institutions.
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