The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has extended till December 16 the deadline for completion of Patanjali Ayurved’s ₹4,350 crore resolution plan to acquire debt-ridden edible oil firm Ruchi Soya.
Earlier, the deadline for implementation of the resolution plan for Ruchi Soya was November 21.
In September this year, Patanjali Ayurved had received approval of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to acquire Ruchi Soya, which went into insolvency in December 2017.
NCLT had admitted the insolvency plea filed by two lead financial creditors Standard Chartered Bank and DBS Bank. However, later the Singapore-based DBS Bank became dissenting creditor and approached NCLAT challenging the distribution of proceeds from the bid submitted by Baba Ramdev-led Patanjali Ayurveda.
The appellate tribunal this week dismissed DSB Bank’s plea, stating that a secured creditor cannot dissent with the resolution plan just to get more funds than other creditors and claim preference over other creditors.
“In the view of the fact that this appellate tribunal would take up the matter on December 9, we extend the period of implementation up to December 16, 2019,” the NCLAT said.
The appellate is hearing some other matters related to Ruchi Soya, which are slated to be heard on December 9.
Ruchi Soya informed the tribunal that resolution applicant Patanjali group will infuse ₹204.75 crore as equity and ₹3,233.36 crore as debt.
The amount will be infused in a special purpose vehicle (SPV) ‘Patanjali Consortium Adhigrahan Pvt Ltd’, which will be later amalgamated with Ruchi Soya.
Another ₹900 crore will be infused by the Patanjali group through subscription of non-convertible debentures and preference shares in the SPV. It will also provide credit guarantee of nearly ₹12 crore.
On April 30 this year, a committee of creditors had approved Patanjali group’s ₹4,350 crore resolution plan to take over Ruchi Soya. Lenders will have to take a haircut of around 60%.
Shailendra Ajmera of EY was appointed as Resolution Professional (RP) to manage the company’s affairs and conduct insolvency proceedings.
Source: Mint