Bidders seem to be making a last-ditch effort to showcase to DHFL’s (Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd) Administrator and its Committee of Creditors that their bid is the best, going by the letters they have written to the key stakeholders involved in DHFL’s resolution process.
This comes ahead of the voting by the CoC on the revised bids for the debt-laden company as part of the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process.
Pirmal Enterprises
Ajay Piramal, Chairman, Piramal Enterprises Ltd (PEL), on Monday wrote a letter to DHFL Administrator R Subramaniakumar stressing on the objective of value maximisation in assessing the bids.
He also emphasised the unconditionality of the bid by Piramal Capital and Housing Finance Ltd (PCHFL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of PEL, as well as the fact that it has offered the highest upfront cash of ₹13,000 crore.
Piramal’s bid envisages a merger of its existing housing finance entity with DHFL. .
Referring to at least three ‘Final’ rounds of bidding so far for DHFL, Piramal said he is perplexed that a need for ‘further clarifications’ has been expressed.
“And in some instances, these ‘clarifications’ have started to take a commercial colour yet again. Requests for change in terms like escrow amounts, cut-off date for financial creditors’ entitlement etc are, in fact, commercial changes,” he said, expressing concern that this may not be the final round of bids.
Adani Group
Meanwhile, the Adani Group is also understood to have written a letter to the DHFL Administrator, stressing that its bid has no conditionalities attached and questioning the offer by Oaktree Capital for DHFL’s insurance arm.
It questioned how Oaktree, as a non-resident, proposes to acquire DHFL’s stake in Pramerica Life Insurance, which is already 49 per cent foreign owned and how it can ascribe a “theoretical” value of ₹1,000 crore, when it cannot own it.
US-based Oaktree Capital, which had emerged the highest bidder for DHFL, has removed the clause of escrow of ₹1,500 crore from its resolution proposal. It is also understood to be offering ₹300 crore more for FD holders of DHFL.
Joining the race, Kapil Wadhawan, the former promoter of DHFL, too has sent a fresh missive to the Administrator underlining that his proposal to fully repay all creditors is the best compared to the revised bids submitted for the resolution and should be considered.