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Once again, Reliance Industries and the Adani Group have decided not to go ahead with the process to bid for the assets of Future Retail which is undergoing bankruptcy proceedings.
At a meeting of creditors held on Tuesday, a day after the deadline for submission of resolution plans had ended, both conglomerates expressed their intention not to submit resolution plans.
RIL had expressed interest under Reliance Retail Ventures while Adani group had submitted EoI under April Moon Retail.
- Also read: Future Retail’s resolution professional seeks access to ‘inaccessible’ stores, warehouses
According to Adani group insiders, at present, its main focus is on raising funds for the repayment of debt and for expansion plans of its core infrastructure businesses and dealing with the hearings in the Supreme Court in relation to the probe being conducted by the Securities and Exchange Board of India. Its retail expansion plans are not a current priority.
Reliance Retail Ventures, which had indicated interest earlier, has also decided to withdraw. The group declined to comment on this. Over the months, Reliance Retail has taken over nearly 1,000 stores of Future Retail by acquiring the leases, since the Kishore Biyani-owned company was unable to meet its rent commitments.
Submitted bids
Out of the 49 prospective resolution applicants, only six have submitted firm bids, of which two are furniture companies, one is a waste management company, one operates charter flights, and one is a marketplace for the construction sector and interior design products.
Sources indicated that the highest bid was offered by the marketplace firm Space Mantra, the only one to submit a bid for the company as a whole. The insolvency court had offered several options — including to bid for the company as a whole or piecemeal for the assets.
Lenders to Future Retail have claimed dues of over ₹21,000 crore. The company has been undergoing insolvency proceedings since July last year but each time has failed to attract serious interest at the final stage. The deadline for completing the insolvency process is July 15.
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