DHFL lenders vote in favour of inviting new bids; set December 14 as the deadline

Lenders to bankrupt Dewan Housing Finance Limited (DHFL) have now officially re-opened bids for the troubled company, with the majority of the creditors' committee voting in favour of the resolution, CNBC-TV18 has learnt.

The voting on the resolution to invite fresh bids from all four existing suitors in what will be the fourth round of bidding concluded at 7 pm this evening. This comes after three suitors for DHFL- Piramal Group, Oaktree Capital and SC Lowy protested against Adani Group’s surprise offer.

All four existing suitors - Adani Group, Piramal Group, Oaktree Capital and SC Lowy- will be asked to submit their final and best offer in the revised submission on or before December 14, as per two people in the know. If they do not submit a duly executed resolution plan by then, the creditors' committee will consider the resolution plan submitted by them in the last round on November 17 as their final resolution plan for evaluation, said one of the people quoted earlier.

The four suitors will be allowed to bid under their preferred option, and not necessarily the same option as they chose initially, said one of the people quoted above. The lenders of DHFL had invited bids under four options- the entire book or one or more of (a) retail portfolio, (b) wholesale portfolio, and (c) slum rehabilitation book.

The committee of creditors (CoC) will meet and open all bids on December 14 once the deadline ends, and evaluate the options on the table, taking into consideration all bids received until then, said a person involved. This would be the final round of bidding, and no further extensions or revisions will be granted, as per two banking executives with exposure to DHFL.

SC Lowy, which had made the lowest bid of about Rs 2,300 crores for the SRA book in the last round of bidding on November 17, is unlikely to participate in the new round, CNBC-TV18 had reported earlier. “They know they are the lowest and don’t stand a chance. SC Lowy has also asked for their Rs 100 crores of earnest money deposit (EMD) back, but if they withdraw midway, they may not be legally entitled to it, so the CoC may allow them to either make a token bid or waive off the penalty,” this person said.

Piramal Group, which had made an offer of about Rs 26,500 crores for the retail book in the last round of bidding, may now submit a bid for the entire book, said people involved in the matter. This is because the remaining suitors – Adani Group and Oaktree Capital- are both keen on the entire book, and Piramal Group is keen to stay in the race.

CNBC-TV18 had earlier reported that in the last round of bidding, Oaktree had offered Rs 31,000 crores for the entire portfolio, Piramal Group Rs 26,500 crores for the retail book, SC Lowy Rs 2,300 crores for the SRA book, and Adani Group about Rs 2750 for the wholesale and SRA book, which it later revised to over Rs 31,000 crores for the entire book. This had prompted Piramal Group and other suitors to protest, and they also threatened to withdraw from the process altogether if lenders considered Adani Group’s new offer, CNBC-TV8 had reported.