Patanjali to acquire Ruchi Soya in Rs4,350-cr debt resolution
02 May 2019
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Patanjali Ayurved, the yoga guru Baba Ramdev-led consumer goods group, will walk away with debt-ridden edible oil firm Ruchi Soya after the creditor group accepted the group’s Rs4,350 crore bid for Ruchi Soya, which has a total debt of about Rs12,000 crore.
Patanjali emerged the lone player left in contention after Adani Wilmar exited last month, had increased its bid value by around Rs200 crore for Ruchi Soya, besides committing to capital infusion of Rs1,700 crore into the company.
Ruchi Soya owes around Rs9,345 crore to financial creditors alone
"We are informed about the development. Voting has gone in our favour," a PTI report quoted Patanjali Ayurved spokesperson S K Tijarawala as saying. "Tomorrow they would hand over the result to us and then we would proceed further," he added.
Patanjali has revised its original Rs4,160-cr offer for Ruchi Soya to Rs4,350 crore.
Ruchi Soya is the country’s largest player in soyabean market with the largest processing and marketing infrastructure.
Ruchi Soya Industries owes around Rs9,345 crore to financial creditors. Among financial creditors, State Bank of India (SBI) has the maximum exposure of around Rs1,800 crore, followed by Central Bank of India Rs816 crore, Punjab National Bank Rs743 crore and Standard Chartered Bank Rs608 crore.
With the acquisition of Ruchi Soya, Patanjali will become a major player in soya bean oils and other products.
In December 2017, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) referred Ruchi Soya for insolvency proceedings on the application of financial creditors Standard Chartered Bank and DBS Bank. Shailendra Ajmera was appointed as resolution professional (RP) to manage the affairs of the company and undertake the insolvency process.
Patanjali got a walkover after Adani Wilmar, which was the highest bidder in August last year, wrote to the resolution professional in December 2018 regarding significant delays in the resolution process that, it claimed, to have led to the deterioration of Ruchi Soya's assets.
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