JM, Edelweiss in race for Reliance Finance

13 GLOBAL AND DOMESTIC INVESTORS HAVE SUBMITTED BIDS FOR REL CAPITAL UNIT

Capri Global, India RF, JM Finance ARC, Edelweiss ARC, UV ARC, Urgo Capital, ARCIL, Authum have submitted expressions of interest

As many as 13 global and domestic investors have submitted expressions of interest for acquiring Reliance Commercial Finance Ltd (RCFL), sources in the know said.

Lenders led by Bank of Baroda had invited bids for RCFL to recover unpaid loans and the last date of submitting the EoI was August 11.

Sources said Capri Global, India RF, JM Finance ARC, Edelweiss ARC, UV ARC, Urgo Capital, ARCIL, Authum Investment & Infra Ltd, Assets Care and Reconstruction Enterprise, CFM ARC, Invest ARC, Rare ARC and Inter national Asset Reconstruction Company submitted expressions of interest (EoIs).

RCFL, which according to its website has been re-branded as Reliance Money, is a non-banking finance company (NBFC) with assets under management of Rs 11,000 crore.

The company is a 100% subsidiary of Reliance Capital Ltd, and offers a wide range of financial products including small and medium enterprise loans, loans against property, infra financing, agriculture loans, and supply chain financing.

The bid process is being run by Deloitte as the resolution advisor, and interested parties were to submit an expression of interest (EoI) by August 11, according to the notice.

The resolution is being pursued by a change in management of RCFL under an Reserve Bank of India circular dated June 7, 2019.

The firm's total borrowings, including debt securities, stood at Rs 9,812.9 crore as on March 31, 2020, down from Rs 10,284.08 crore in the year-ago period.

The resolution plan provides for three options - acquisition of RCFL on an as-is-where-is basis, buying the firm with one or more asset books on as-is-where-is-basis, and acquiring one or more asset books on as-iswhere-is basis.