Global alternative asset investor Oaktree Capital Management has emerged as the highest bidder for bankrupt Dewan Housing Finance Corp. Ltd (DHFL), beating Adani Enterprises Ltd and Piramal Group, two people aware of the matter said.
Oaktree Capital offered to pay ₹32,700 crore in the fourth round of bidding for mortgage lender DHFL’s entire portfolio, followed by Piramal with ₹32,350 crore and Adani Enterprises with ₹29,860 crore, the people cited above said on condition of anonymity.
S.C. Lowy, which had earlier bid for DHFL’s assets, did not submit a fresh bid.
The Adani group also made a separate offer to buy the wholesale and slum rehabilitation projects controlled by DHFL. Piramal, too, submitted a separate bid for DHFL’s retail assets.
The revised bids were called after the Adani group made an unsolicited offer to buy the entire company instead of the select assets it had bid for earlier.
In the previous round of bidding, Oaktree Capital had revised its bid price for the entire portfolio to ₹31,000 crore from ₹28,000 crore, while Piramal had raised its bid for the retail portfolio to ₹26,000 crore from ₹15,000 crore earlier.
Adani had offered ₹2,700 crore for the wholesale and slum redevelopment authority (SRA) loan books, and SC Lowy had raised its bid for the wholesale book, excluding SRA, to ₹2,300 crore from ₹1,500 crore earlier.
However, in a surprise move, Adani offered ₹250 crore more than Oaktree for the entire firm, prompting the lenders to call for fresh bids.
Meanwhile, former DHFL promoter Kapil Wadhawan on Monday made a renewed offer for the company.
In a letter to the DHFL administrator, Wadhawan said he could fully repay all creditors in 7-8 years, with an upfront payment of ₹9,000 crore.
“If the bids received for Dewan Housing Finance Corp. continue to be as low as they were previously, I would request the committee of creditors to consider my settlement proposal instead, rather than permit Dewan Housing Finance Corp. to be sold for a song,” he said.
Under his proposal, settlements will start from the fiscal year 2022 and will ensure the completion of stalled projects to recover dues in the wholesale business. Later, the company will focus on fresh retail loans, the letter said.
Dewan Housing’s outstanding loan book stands at ₹67,000 crore, which includes wholesale loans worth ₹40,000 crore, retail loans worth ₹17,000 crore and delinquent loans worth ₹10,000 crore.
The company went into administration in November last year, after the Reserve Bank of India asked lenders to initiate proceedings.
Source: Mint