India's first consortium, which will help lenders in selling seized sticky assets, has been formed.
Christened Armedas, the consortium comprises Chesterton Meghraj Property Consultants, Meghraj Financial Services, Dalal Mott MacDonald and N A Shah Associates.
"We signed the memorandum of understanding forming the consortium recently. We have already written to banks and financial institutions offering our services and are expecting a reply," said Anuj Puri, managing director, Chesterton Meghraj.
The move comes in the wake of the promulgation of the Securitisation Bill which enables banks and financial institutions to seize the assets of defaulters and recover their dues by hawking the assets.
The ordinance is aimed at the speedy seizure of assets by the lenders.
Investment bank Meghraj Financial Services is leading the consortium, which already has a substantial contact base with the lenders.
Chesterton Megrhjaj will act as the brokers in property sale, while the valuation of the properties will be done by accountancy firm Dalal Mott MacDonald.
N A Shah Associates will suggest tax effective means of going ahead with a transaction.
"The coming together of the four firms will enable us to offer all the services under one roof. Lenders will not have to approach separate parties for different services like valuation and sale," said Puri.
He said the consortium had worked out two models for the sale of the assets. Either the property could be sold separately or the company with its underlying assets could be sold.
"We feel that in the textile and pharmaceutical sectors, the company's sale route will be followed as many of these firms can be turned around by a new management. This is where the role of Meghraj Financial Services assumes importance as they are an investment bank," Puri explained.
Multinational property consultancy firms are gearing up to exploit the business opportunities arising out of the ordinance.
Knight Frank and Cushman & Wakefield are two such firms which have evinced interest in pitching for this business and are in talks with lenders.
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