Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Ltd on Tuesday said its committee of creditors has approved the sale of its education business Schoolnet India Ltd to Career Point Publications Pvt. Ltd.
The committee, which comprises all financial creditors of IL&FS, approved Career Point Publications’ bid with more than 78% votes through an e-voting process that concluded on 5 November, IL&FS Group said in a press release.
IL&FS Group holds 73.7% stake in Schoolnet India, which holds 80% stake in IL&FS Skills Development Corp. Ltd and has two units—IL&FS Cluster Development Initiative Ltd and Skill Training Assessment Management Partners Ltd.
As part of the transaction, Career Point Publications will get 80% ownership in IL&FS Skills Development Corp. held by Schoolnet India.
“Career Point Publications made a binding offer at an implied enterprise value whereby it shall assume responsibility for all the debt of Schoolnet India and IL&FS Skills Development Corp. Ltd, in addition to paying a certain amount towards purchase of Schoolnet’s equity,” the release said.
The transaction will now be subject to approval by the Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal.
Career Point Publications, part of the Career Point Group, had emerged as the highest bidder for acquiring Schoolnet India. “This development represents another key milestone in the overall resolution for the IL&FS Group under the new board. As part of the overall resolution plan to address a significant portion of the group’s debt, the sale of a number of other group assets has been initiated, which is currently in various stages of progress,” the release said.
IL&FS Group had collapsed in September 2018 under mounting debt, triggering a massive liquidity crunch among weaker banks as well as non-banking financial companies across the country.
Following the debacle, the government took control of the company and formed a new six-member board led by Kotak Mahindra Bank managing director and chief executive Uday Kotak to restructure the debt.
The failure of IL&FS Group, which had an outstanding debt of over ₹94,000 crore as of 1 October 2018, had a ripple effect on other financial institutions such as mutual funds and pension funds.
Source: Mint