NCLAT rejects Authum Investment plea challenging resolution of Srei companies

livemint.com:

MUMBAI : The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal has dismissed an appeal by non-bank financier Authum Investment and Infrastructure challenging a bankruptcy tribunal order that had rejected its objections to a resolution plan for two Srei companies. The National Company Law Tribunal had in August approved a resolution plan submitted by National Asset Reconstruction Co. Ltd (NARCL) for Srei Infrastructure Finance Ltd (SIFL) and Srei Equipment Finance Ltd (SEFL).

At the time, the tribunal also rejected a plea by Authum, one of the bidders for the two companies under the insolvency process. Following the tribunal’s order, Authum approached NCLAT. NARCL’s resolution plan offered a net present value bid of ₹5,555 crore for the two Srei companies, which the lenders approved.

Authum with a bid of ₹5,526 crore, and Varde Partners along with Arena Investors with a bid of ₹4,680 crore were the two other bidders. “We do not find any error in the order of the adjudicating authority (NCLT) rejecting the applications," said an NCLAT bench led by Justices Ashok Bhushan and Barun Mitra in their 42-page order of 5 January. The tribunal’s approval of the resolution plan was in the commercial wisdom of the committee of creditors, NCLAT said, adding that there were no grounds to interfere with the order.

“There is no merit in the appeal. The appeal is dismissed," it said. In October 2021, the Reserve Bank of India had superseded the boards of the two Srei companies citing governance concerns and repayment defaults.