Four New Prospective Bidders Enter The Fray For Srei Group NBFCs

The extended bidding process for Srei Group’s non-bank finance companies is finding late interest among four more potential bidders, who are seeking to join the race.

According to two people with knowledge of the matter, Edelweiss Alternative Asset Advisors and Prudent Asset Reconstruction Co. have both revived their interest in buying the two NBFCs under the insolvency and bankruptcy code.

Apart from these, Capri Global and National Asset Reconstruction Co. have submitted fresh expressions of interest to the financial creditors of the two non-bank lenders, the people mentioned above said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

While Prudent ARC has shown interest again, it may not qualify to bid for the assets, since it does not have Rs 1,000 crore in net-owned funds, the first of the two people quoted above said.

Earlier this month, the financial creditors to the Srei Group NBFCs allowed a late stage entry to ArcelorMittal, so it may submit a bid. The deadline to submit a final bid has been extended to Nov. 15, from Oct. 15 earlier, the people quoted above confirmed.

Apart from these, a consortium consisting of Varde Partners and Arena Investors, and another consortium led by Shon Randhawa are also in the race for the assets.

Queries mailed to the administrator for Srei Group NBFCs, Edelweiss Alternative Asset Advisors, Prudent ARC, Capri Global Capital and NARCL were not immediately responded to.

The bidding process for Srei Infrastructure Finance Ltd. and Srei Equipment Finance Ltd. has seen consistent delays, partly owing to bidders seeking more time to submit formal bids. Now, with late stage entries, creditors are expecting further delays, the people quoted above said.

The Reserve Bank of India had referred both companies to insolvency proceedings in October 2021. It had also suspended the boards of both these companies and appointed former banker Rajneesh Sharma as administrator.

As per the Srei Group website, 44 financial creditors have consolidated claims worth Rs 32,750 crore against the two companies, as of August.