Gautam Adani: Adani Group company Adani Enterprises Limited can become the highest bidder to buy the bankrupt company Jaiprakash Associates Limited (JAL). This is because Adani Enterprises has proposed to pay the purchase amount in two years, whereas Anil Aggarwal’s Vedanta has said to pay the entire amount in five years. Due to this, Adani Group is emerging as a top contender for the acquisition of the company.
Vedanta is at the forefront
Vedanta, a big mining company, had gone ahead in this race by making the highest bid in the beginning of September. In the auction held to find a buyer for JAL, Vedanta Group was leading the race by bidding Rs 12,505 crore. JAL’s business extends to real estate, cement, electricity, hotel and road sectors.
Adani Group gets highest score
Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Limited, Jindal Power Limited and PNC Infratech Limited, which were earlier in the race to buy JAL, did not participate in the auction. Later the lenders asked all the five companies to negotiate and increase the bidding amount. On October 14, all these companies submitted their resolution plans in a sealed envelope.
Last week, the Creditor Committee (COC) of JAL held a meeting and during this, it reviewed all the resolution plans on the basis of feasibility and then gave the highest marks to Adani Enterprise Limited. It was followed by Dalmia Cement (India) and then Vedanta Limited.
Voting again in the next two weeks
According to sources, now the CoC can conduct voting on the resolution plan in the next two weeks. The payment proposal in Dalmia’s case hinges on the pending decision of the Supreme Court between JAL and the Development Authority (YEIDA). That means there is no fixed timeline for payment. In contrast, Adani Group is offering back-ended payment in two years and Vedanta in five years.
Sources also say that last month, the previous promoters of JAL had also proposed to enter into an agreement with the lenders under 12A, but things did not work out as the source of the funds was not clear. Even before this, the promoters had challenged the auction process, but the court rejected it. Now it is expected that after evaluating all the plans and considering the interest of the stakeholders, the CoC may vote in favor of Adani Enterprises Limited for the revival of JAL.
Also read:
‘Buy…’ This share of Adani can make huge profits, even brokerage is confident
