Central Bank-led lenders put Jain Sarvodaya Vidhya Gyanpeeth Samiti loan on the block; ₹135-crore anchor bid in hand

A consortium of lenders led by Central Bank of India has started selling its stressed loan exposure to Jain Sarvodaya Vidhya Gyanpeeth Samiti (JSVGS) through a Swiss challenge auction. It already holds an anchor offer of ₹135 crore for the debt.

BOB Capital Markets (BOBCAPS), the investment banking arm of Bank of Baroda, is the process advisor. It invited expressions of interest (EoIs) in a public advertisement published on Wednesday. Central Bank mandated BOBCAPS on behalf of the consortium to advise on the bid process and related matters.

How the sale will work

The lenders want to transfer the debt and its underlying security to permitted transferees and asset reconstruction companies (ARCs). The sale will be an assignment under Section 5 of the SARFAESI Act, 2002. Section 5 allows ARCs to acquire financial assets from banks and financial institutions.

The sale will follow the Reserve Bank of India (Commercial Banks – Transfer and Distribution of Credit Risk) Directions, 2025, and each lender’s board-approved policy. Buyers must pay entirely in cash. Structures that mix cash with security receipts are not allowed.

Under the Swiss challenge method, an offer the lenders already hold, the anchor bid, is put up for open counter-bids. The anchor bidder keeps preferential rights under the bid process document. It can also match the highest competing bid under a right of first refusal (RoFR). In practice, a rival can win only if it outbids the anchor and the anchor then declines to match. The advertisement does not name the anchor bidder.

Price and timeline

Challengers must offer at least 5.19% more than the anchor bid, a minimum markup of ₹7 crore. That puts the bidding start price at ₹142 crore. Bids after that must rise in steps of at least ₹1 crore.

Prospective bidders must submit their EoIs by November 9. Each EoI must come with a refundable participation fee of ₹13.50 crore. Shortlisted parties can inspect documents in a physical data room from November 9 to 5 pm on November 23. The Swiss challenge auction is scheduled for November 25, giving bidders about two days between due diligence and bidding.

The debt is being sold on an “as is where is, as is what is, as is how is, whatever there is” and without-recourse basis. The lenders give no representation, warranty or indemnity. The buyer will therefore take on any legal, title or recovery risk tied to the loan and its collateral.

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