Authum Investment the Highest Bidder for Reliance Home Finance

Authum Investment and Infrastructure Ltd has emerged as the highest bidder for Reliance Home Finance (RHF), a group company of the debt-ridden Anil Ambani-promoted Reliance Group, with about Rs 2,900 crore offer. The lenders led by Bank of Baroda would receive Rs 2,587 crore or 90 per cent upfront and the remaining Rs 300 crore within a year. The company had submitted a bid of Rs 2,911 crores (which includes Rs 24 crore as deferred interest) to financial creditors subject to the terms and conditions of the bid document which has been approved by the lenders at their meeting held on June 19, 2021. The voting that started on May 31 and concluded on June 19 saw participation from over 91 per cent of the lenders by value, sources said, adding lenders have voted in favour of Authum's plan over other bids. In this connection, the lead bank on behalf of lenders of RHFL under the Inter-Creditor Agreement (ICA) has issued a letter of intent (LOI) dated June 19, 2021 in favour of the company. The LOI is subject to the terms and conditions stated in the LOI including statutory and regulatory approvals, it added. Authum is a domestic NBFC with around 15 years of presence and over Rs 1,500 crore net worth as of December 31, 2020. The resolution plan of Authum with assets under management (AUM) of approx Rs 2,200 crore as was selected as it offered Highest Net Present Value (NPV) and has fewer and reasonable conditions, sources said. The bid by the NBFC scored highest in terms of ease of implementation and found to be comprehensive for all the stakeholders including RHF employees and customers. Though the plan has been selected considering that overwhelming majority, sources said, few remaining lenders are yet to give their nod due to delay in their internal approvals. The other bidders were ARES SSG (global fund with over USD 8 billion under management) along with Assets Care & Reconstruction Enterprise Ltd, Avenue Capital (global fund with over USD 9.5 billion under management) jointly with ARCIL and Capri Global Capital Limited - a domestic NBFC.