The committee of creditors (CoC) of Reliance Capital, in the their meeting on Thursday, refused to guarantee finality of the resolution process post the second auction.
In response to bidders demanding that the extended challenge mechanism be the final step in the resolution process, lenders said they reserve the right to negotiate with the bidders even after the auction.
The Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) and Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), which together control 30 per cent of the CoC, led the opposition to the borrowers’ demand for finality. However, the CoC did agree that no bids will be accepted outside the challenge mechanism, unlike what happened post the first challenge mechanism.
Other discussions pertained to the bid proposals being compliant with the IBC and RFRP, negotiations on the value of Reliance Capital’s assets and addressing any pre-auction queries that bidders had, sources told businessline.
The second round of the extended challenge mechanism is scheduled to be held on April 26. The Hinduja Group, Torrent Investments and Oaktree Capital are expected to participate in the auction, wherein the bid threshold has been set at ₹9,000 crore on an NPV basis, with an upfront cash component of ₹8,000 crore.
Earlier this week, the Mumbai bench of the NCLT extended the deadline for the resolution of Reliance Capital by 90 days to July 16.