Adani Infra, Vedanta in fray for Punj Lloyd; liquidation process extended by 2 months
Adani Infra (India) Ltd and Vedanta Ltd are the two bidders left in the fray to acquire the insolvent infrastructure company Punj Lloyd. The company is undergoing liquidation after it failed to find a suitor under the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process.
The liquidation process is supposed to get over by 22 March 2023 after the NCLT accepted the liquidator’s request for an extension of the time for completion of the liquidation process by 60 more days.
Punj Lloyd was pushed to insolvency after ICICI Bank dragged it to NCLT in March 2018 for failing to pay Rs 854 crore. The NCLT admitted ICICI Bank’s insolvency petition against the company, and thus began the long process of resolution, which is yet to get over.
The company owed Rs 13,386 crore to over 1097 creditors including both financial and operational creditors.
A final resolution plan was submitted by a consortium of Payard Investments Private Ltd and Prudent ARC Ltd. However, the Committee of Creditors rejected the resolution by a vote share of 79.53%.
The Committee of Creditors in march 2021 decided to sell Punj Lloyd as going concern under the liquidation process. The resolution professional Ashwini Mehra prayed the Delhi bench of NCLT to pass an order to liquidate the company as going concern because Punj Lloyd had over 3,000 employees and several ongoing EPC projects.
The NCLT allowed the request of the resolution professional and ordered liquidation of the company as a going concern in July 2022. Ashwini Mehra was appointed the liquidator. Ever since the liquidator of the company has been trying to sell it as going concern.
Under the liquidation process, the stakeholders submitted claims of Rs 17,212 crore.
After several extensions for the last date for submitting EoI, both Adani Infra and Vedanta Ltd submitted their bids in October 2022.
The two bidders had to revise their bids in December 2022 after the Stakeholders Consultation Committee (SCC) found both the bidders treating the going concern sale process.
Now the SCC will arrive at a reserve price for the e-auction. The liquidation process was supposed to be over by 22 January. However, the creditors and the bidders of Punj Lloyd are in the process of holding negotiations on the commercial terms and conditions of the bids.
Therefore, the liquidator had asked the NCLT for an extension of liquidation process by another 60 days till 22 March 2023. The NCLT has accepted the requested.
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