Vedanta Ltd has emerged as the successful bidder for Meenakshi Energy Ltd under bankruptcy proceedings and will pay ₹1,440 crore for acquiring it, the company said in an exchange filing on Wednesday.

Meenakshi Energy owns a 1,000 MW coal-based power plant in Nellore, Andhra Pradesh. Of this, phase 1 of 300 MW unit has been completed while the remaining 700 MW is yet to be tested and declared fit for commercial operations.

Anil Agarwal-owned Vedanta plans to operate the power plant of the bankrupt company as an independent power producer and will be entering into power purchase agreements with customers.

The total consideration will be paid partly in cash and through subscription to non-convertible debentures that will be issued by Meenakshi Energy. The cash component of ₹312 crore will be paid upfront. The NCDs will mature in five equal instalments over five years.

Meenakshi Energy, set up in 1996, went into insolvency in 2019. As on March 31, 2022, of the ₹12,944 crore worth of claims submitted only ₹4,625 crore were admitted. State Bank of India led the list of lenders with claims of around ₹1,900 crore.

The company reported revenues of ₹201 crore in FY22, ₹95 crore in FY21 and ₹12 crore in FY20.

Vedanta said that the committee of creditors approved its bid on Wednesday. The approval of the National Company Law Tribunal is still pending and the acquisition is expected to be completed next fiscal year.

On Wednesday, Vedanta shares ended 1.95 per cent higher at ₹324.15 on the National Stock Exchange.

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