Oaktree Capital and Piramal Group on Thursday have revised their offer yet again to acquire bankrupt housing finance company DHFL. This has turned the competition more intense. While Piramal offered Rs 2,000 crore more, the US-based asset management firm Oaktree Capital said it would sweeten its offer by Rs 1,700 crore.
The committee of creditors (CoC) will start voting on the proposals this week after its legal team advises them.
According to the reports, Oaktree Capital has increased its offer for Dewan Housing Finance Corporation (DHFL) by Rs 1,700 crore. The increase in the offer came after rival bidder Piramal Capital and Housing Finance (PCHFL) offered to increase the interest income by a similar amount.
“In an effort not to gain an unfair advantage, we have allocated an amount of additional interest income to the financial creditors equal to the total increase offered by the second highest bidder for the additional interest income and the insurance stake, so that the bids may once again be compared on a consistent basis,” the email sent to the CoC said.
With this offer, Oaktree Capital claimed its total bid for DHFL was at Rs 38,400 crore. It also said its offer for DHFL was Rs 1,150 crore more than Piramal’s bid. Similarly, on a net present value (NPV) basis, Oaktree claimed its offer to be higher by Rs 1,501 crore than the rival bidder. Oaktree Capital, PCHFL and Adani Properties had earlier submitted bids in the latest round for the entire book of DHFL.
Oaktree Capital also said it had addressed concerns raised by lenders in its latest resolution plan submitted on December 22. It clarified that Oaktree’s bid is completely unconditional, barring National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) and regulatory approvals, said media reports.
Similarly, incremental amount of Rs 300 crore has been provided to fixed deposit (FD) holders as a ‘goodwill gesture’.
Ajay Piramal, chairman, Piramal Enterprises, had earlier written a letter to DHFL administrator highlighting constraints in the takeover of DHFL’s insurance business by Oaktree.
DHFL is undergoing insolvency proceedings at the NCLT Mumbai since December 3. The admitted claims of the troubled lender stood at Rs 87,120 crore as on September 10,2020. State Bank of India is the lead creditor with claims of Rs 10,083 crore.
