Gaming firm Nazara Technologies and a consortium of financial services firm Resurgent India and Sanjay Lodha placed formal bids to buy Sachin Tendulkar-backed sports entertainment company Smaaash Entertainment Pvt. Ltd (SEPL), three people familiar with the process said.
Both paid the Rs 5 crore earnest money deposit (EMD) qualifying as bidders to acquire the bankrupt company. “The bids which were opened on Monday will now be scrutinised firstly for compliance and clarifications. Price negotiations will also be undertaken later,” said one of the persons cited above.
Details of both bids could not be ascertained by ET. The two bidders could be reached immediately.
Lodha is the managing director of Faridabad-based technology company Netweb Technologies.
Smaaash owes creditors led by Edelweiss ARC about Rs 452 crore. Other lenders to the company are Yes Bank, Sidbi and Mabella Investment Advisors. It was admitted to bankruptcy in May 2022.
Resolution professional (RP) Bhrugesh Amin has listed gaming machines, go-kart, bowling alleys and other entertainment devices spread across 13 centres as assets.
Amin did not reply to an email seeking comment.
SEPL, which has 480 employees, recorded revenue of Rs 118 crore in FY23.
This is the third resolution process for SEPL after the previous two rounds were scrapped due to litigation and other complications.
In a related development, previous promoter Shripal Morakhia has withdrawn his plea in the appellate tribunal challenging an order by NCLT’s Mumbai bench last November, annulling the change in ownership of the “SMAAASH” brand and terming it a “fraudulent” transaction by Morakhia. The court had said Morakhia colluded with associates to siphon off a “critical and valuable” asset of the debt-laden company through an assignment agreement signed in 2022 which substantially reduced the financial proposal offered by prospective bidders for the company.
The NCLT court had directed that the brand be transferred back to SEPL. A two-judge bench led by NCLAT chairperson Ashok Bhushan said in view of the appeal being withdrawn, the November 22 order of the NCLT continues to be operative.
“Now with Morakhia withdrawing the plea challenging the NCLT order altogether, a major impediment on the resolution is gone. But the previous promoter is notorious for creating legal hurdles. Though the resolution timeline does not end till August, creditors would like to expedite the process and find a buyer soonest,” said a second person aware of the process.
The court was deciding on a plea by SEPL RP Amin to disallow promoter Morakhia from transferring trademarks of SMAASH to privately-owned FGAPL after it was discovered that the brand was transferred through a backdated deed of assignment signed in 2019.
