Gautam Adani and Anil Aggarwal
It has rarely been seen that someone has made the highest bid for an item, and instead of getting that item, someone else has got that item, that too when the amount of his bid is within the limit. Something similar happened with Vedanta Group. Despite Vedanta Group having the highest bid for Jai Prakaya Associates Limited, it seems to be losing to Adani Group. The bid made by Adani Group was lower than that of Vedanta. According to experts, the creditors of Jaiprakash Associates have voted unanimously in favor of Adani Enterprises. Due to which, despite higher bidding, Vedanta Group’s purse has remained empty of ‘water’. Let us also tell you what is the whole matter?
Why did lenders vote for Adani?
Media reports quoted sources as saying that Vedanta had emerged as the highest bidder for Jaiprakash Associates Limited (JAL) with an offer of Rs 17,000 crore in an electronic auction in September. However, creditors chose Adani Enterprises because it offered higher advance payments. He said that the net present value of Adani Enterprises’ bid was about Rs 500 crore less than that of Vedanta. However, till now the information about Adani’s total bid has not been revealed. Voting ended at 9 pm on Tuesday night.
55 thousand crore outstanding on water
Adani Enterprises was given the highest marks in a score sheet prepared by the committee of creditors last week. Its bid was given marks out of 100. However, according to informed people, some lenders have challenged this scoring system. National Asset Reconstruction Company is the largest lender to Jaiprakash Associates. JAL owes Rs 55,000 crore to creditors. The company was admitted for bankruptcy proceedings in June last year. It is being managed by Bhuvan Madan, a Deloitte-backed solutions professional. A source, on condition of anonymity, said in a media report that the lenders’ decision to vote for Adani Enterprises could be legally scrutinized as it was not the highest bidder. However, courts generally defer to lenders’ business prudence in deciding how to resolve distressed accounts.
Manoj Gaur had given an offer of Rs 18 thousand crores
Originally 5 companies had come forward with resolution plans. Apart from Adani and Vedanta, these included Dalmia Bharat, Naveen Jindal’s Jindal Power and PNC Infratech. Dalmia Bharat had initially emerged as the highest bidder, but said its offer was conditional. He did not participate in the subsequent electronic auction. Earlier this month, media reports said that JAL promoters led by Manoj Gaur had offered a settlement of Rs 18,000 crore to creditors to take the company out of bankruptcy proceedings. However, creditors believed that Gaur could not provide sufficient evidence of financial backing for his offer. Jayaprakash Associates, the flagship company of Jaypee Group, has a portfolio spanning from cement, power, engineering and hospitality to real estate and sports infrastructure. Its Sports City project in Greater Noida is spread over 1,000 hectares.