The World Bank has blacklisted Videocon Industries on allegations of fraud and corruption for three years.
Bankruptcy court NCLT on Tuesday allowed billionaire Anil Agarwal's Twin Star Technologies to take over Videocon Industries Ltd for about Rs 3,000 crore. Twin Star, a part of Vedanta Group, will pay around Rs 500 crore within 90 days as upfront payment and the rest as non-convertible debentures over a period of time. A two-member Mumbai bench of the NCLT comprising members - H P Chaturvedi and Ravikumar Duraisamy - approved the resolution plan by Twin-Star Technologies.
Lenders to Venugopal Dhoot-founded Videocon Group will eventually take 50-55 per cent haircut and not 95 per cent as is being reported after considering about Rs 15,000 crore expected from the sale of the group's overseas oil and gas assets, its former CFO Rajneesh Gupta claimed. Videocon Industries Ltd, which is comprised of its consumer electronics business and interest in the Ravva oil and gas field, and its overseas oil and gas assets, mainly comprising of oil blocks in Brazil, are being auctioned separately to recover unpaid loans. While Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta Group has picked up Videocon Industries for Rs 2,962 crore, the bids for overseas assets are yet to be decided.
Videocon Group on Thursday signed an agreement with AB Electrolux to acquire the Swedish company's entire 91.85 per cent stake in Electrolux Kelvinator Ltd. As per the deal, AB Electrolux will get about 5 per cent stake in Videocon Industries Ltd.
Videocon Industries Ltd has received approval from the Bombay high court for amalgamating EKL Appliances Ltd with itself.
Videocon Industries Ltd will spend Rs 2,000 crore (Rs 20 billion) for oil exploration and production activities, including Rs 800 crore ($183 million) abroad as part of its business plans.
After getting rapped for accepting Vedanta group's bid that would give just 5 per cent of their outstanding loans, lenders to Videocon Industries on Monday approached the insolvency appellate tribunal NCLAT seeking fresh bids for the debt-laden consumer durable firm. Billionaire Anil Agarwal's Twin-Star Technologies had offered Rs 2,962 crore to takeover Videocon Industries, which was 4.15 per cent of the admitted claims of Rs 64,838.63 crore of lenders. SBI, the leading lender of Videocon Industries, has approached the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) requesting for a rebidding of the 13 companies of the debt-ridden group, on account of strong observations against Rs 2,962 crore takeover bid by Anil Agarwal's Twin Star Technologies.
Markets regulator Sebi has ordered the attachment of bank and demat accounts as well as mutual fund holdings of Videocon Group founder Venugopal Dhoot to recover dues totalling Rs 5.16 lakh. The latest decision has been taken after Dhoot failed to pay the fine imposed on him in March by Sebi for not making disclosures about his interest in Supreme Energy as well as for not disclosing that Quality Techno Advisors Pvt Ltd (QTAPL) and Credential Finance Ltd (CFL) were related parties with respect to certain transactions. In an attachment notice on Monday, Sebi said the pending dues of Rs 5.16 lakh include the initial fine of Rs 5 lakh, interest of Rs 15,000 and a recovery cost of Rs 1,000.
Videocon Industries Ltd has decided to raise Rs 5,000 crore (Rs 50 billion) through the issue of equity shares or other securities.
The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has directed to freeze and attach assets and properties of Videocon promoters following a petition by the ministry of corporate affairs. The NCLT Mumbai bench has directed the Central Depository Services Ltd (CDSL) and National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL) that securities owned or held by the Videocon promoters "in any company or society be frozen, and be prohibited from being transferred or alienation" and the details be shared with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA). It directed the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) to disclose information about all assets of the Videocon promoters in their knowledge or possession, for the purpose of freezing and restraining such assets.
A bankruptcy appeals court has scrapped billionaire Anil Agarwal-led Twin Star Technologies' winning bid to take over Videocon Industries Ltd on a plea by some creditors that the money offered imposed a steep Rs 62,000 crore haircut upon banks. The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) asked creditors to initiate the fresh sale of Videocon, a consumer durables company manufacturing products ranging from air-conditioners to washing machines, for recovery of their unpaid Rs 64,637.6 crore. While a majority of lenders had previously accepted Twin Star Technologies' Rs 2,962.02 crore offer, Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) and IFCI Ltd dissented, saying the amount offered was close to the liquidation value of the bankrupt firm and that they cannot be paid less than the liquidation value.
Consumer durables maker Electrolux Kelvinator Ltd will merge with Videocon Industries by next year, Electrolux managing director Anirudh Dhoot said on Tuesday.
Videocon Industries will merge Petrocon India with itself and the valuation of shares and exchange ratio would be five shares of the company for every two shares held in Petrocon India Ltd.
Bharat PetroResources, a wholly owned subsidiary of BPCL and Videocon Industries, holds 40 per cent of the block. Brazil's Petrobras holds the remaining 60 per cent.
The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal on Monday stayed industrialist Anil Agarwal's Twin Star Technologies' Rs 2,962.02 crore-takeover bid of debt-ridden Videocon Industries. A two-member NCLAT bench headed by its Officiating Chairperson Justice A I S Cheema stayed the order passed by the Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal on June 9. The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal's (NCLAT) direction came over two petitions filed by unsatisfied creditors -- Bank of Maharashtra and IFCI Ltd. The appellate tribunal has issued notices to the Committee of Creditors, the Resolution Professional of Videocon and the successful resolution applicant Twin Star.
The agency has also named companies Nupower Renewables, Supreme Energy, Videocon International Electronics Ltd and Videocon Industries limited as accused in the FIR registered under IPC sections related to criminal conspiracy and provisions of prevention of corruption act.
The CBI on Monday arrested Videocon group founder Venugopal Dhoot in connection with the ICICI Bank loan fraud case, officials said. The 71-year-old Dhoot was arrested from Mumbai, nearly three days after former CEO and MD of the ICICI Bank Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar were taken into custody by the CBI, they said.
The Central Bureau of Investigation has arrested former ICICI Bank CEO and MD Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar in connection with alleged cheating and irregularities in loans sanctioned by the bank to the group in 2012, officials said on Friday. The CBI had booked Chanda Kochhar, her husband and Venugopal Dhoot of Videocon Group, along with companies Nupower Renewables, Supreme Energy, Videocon International Electronics Ltd and Videocon Industries Limited, as accused in the FIR registered under IPC sections related to criminal conspiracy and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, they said.
Videocon group promoter Venugopal Dhoot on Friday appeared before a court in Mumbai in the alleged ICICI Bank-Videocon money laundering case, and was granted bail.
The lawyer of Videocon Group promoter Venugopal Dhoot on Friday argued before the Bombay high court that the industrialist's arrest in the ICICI Bank loan fraud case was unwarranted as he was cooperating with the probe. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), on the other hand, claimed that he was trying to avoid probe. Dhoot, arrested by the CBI on December 26, 2022, and presently in judicial custody, has moved the high court seeking to quash the First Information Report, and has also sought interim bail.
Former ICICI Bank CEO and MD Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar were released from jail on Tuesday morning, a day after the Bombay high court granted them interim bail in a loan fraud case, a police official said. Chanda Kochhar walked out of the Byculla women's prison in Mumbai, while her husband was released from the Arthur Road jail, the official said. The CBI arrested Kochhars on December 23, 2022 in connection with the Videocon-ICICI Bank loan case.
In the third acquisition in 10 months, state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) and Oil India Ltd (OIL) will buy Videocon Industries' 10 per cent stake in a giant Mozambique gas field for about $2.5 billion.
The agency has registered the FIR after a preliminary enquiry on a complaint from the oil ministry.
Kochhar is required to assist the investigating officer of the case in taking the probe forward and her statement will be recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Prime Minister's Office wants CBI and tax dept to identify the actual beneficiaries of the transactions made in India and abroad.
Videocon Industries on Tuesday said a well drilled to confirm an oil discovery in its Brazilian offshore block has struck 200 feet of high-quality hydrocarbon zone.
A Mumbai court on Tuesday rejected a bail plea of businessman Deepak Kochhar, husband of former ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar and an accused in a money laundering case. He was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in September under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in the alleged ICICI Bank-Videocon money laundering case. Special PMLA judge P P Rajvaidya rejected the `regular' bail application of Deepak Kochhar, filed on merits of the case as against technical grounds.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday told a special court here that it received a sanction from the ICICI Bank's board to prosecute Chanda Kochhar, the former CEO and MD of the bank, in connection with a case of alleged cheating and irregularities in loans sanctioned by the bank to Videocon Group companies. The probe agency, represented by special public prosecutor A Limosin, told the court that the board of ICICI Bank in a resolution passed on April 22 this year gave its sanction to the prosecution (against Kochhar), accepting that there seemed to be quid pro-quo.
The Bombay high court granted interim bail to Videocon Group founder Venugopal Dhoot on Friday, nearly a month after he was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the ICICI Bank-Videocon loan fraud case. A division bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and P K Chavan granted bail to Dhoot on a surety of Rs one lakh. The court permitted him to furnish cash bail and then deposit the surety amount two weeks thereafter.
The Kochhars were arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) last Friday. Dhoot was arrested on Monday. The three were produced before special judge S H Gwalani at the end of their earlier remand on Thursday.
A special Central Bureau of Investigation court here on Wednesday extended till December 29 the CBI custody of former ICICI Bank CEO and MD Chanda Kochhar, her husband Deepak Kochhar and Videocon group founder Venugopal Dhoot in connection with a loan fraud case. The probe agency arrested Kochhars last Friday after questioning them briefly. Dhoot was arrested on Monday.
The Supreme Court on Monday sought response of former ICICI Bank CEO-cum-MD Chanda Kochhar and her businessman husband Deepak Kochhar on a plea of the CBI challenging the interim bail granted to them by the Bombay high court in a loan fraud case. A bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M Trivedi issued notice on the plea of the CBI and sought the response of the couple in three weeks.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday questioned the CBI over not objecting to repeated extension of the two-week interim bail granted in January this year to former ICICI Bank CEO-cum-MD Chanda Kochhar and her businessman husband Deepak Kochhar in a loan fraud case. A bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M Trivedi asked Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing for the CBI, as to why the probe agency did not resist repeated extension of interim bail granted to them by the Bombay high court on January 9. "This order is of January 9 and interim bail was granted for only two weeks. Why have you not resisted? Why are you permitting it to continue for such a long period?
ONGC Videsh Ltd and Oil India Ltd will buy Videocon Industries' 10 per cent stake in a giant Mozambique gas field for $2.475 billion.
The Bombay high court on Monday granted bail to former ICICI Bank CEO and MD Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar in a loan fraud case, saying their arrest was not in accordance with the provisions of law. A division bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and P K Chavan held that the arrest of Kochhars was in violation of Section 41A of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), which mandates sending notice for appearance before the police officer concerned. The couple was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on December 23, 2022 in connection with the Videocon-ICICI Bank loan case.
A special court here on Thursday rejected Videocon founder Venugopal Dhoot's plea which claimed that his arrest by the Central Bureau of Investigation in the alleged loan fraud involving former ICICI Bank CEO and MD Chanda Kochhar was illegal. The CBI court also rejected applications of Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar for home food, beds, mattresses and chairs. The court directed jail authorities to provide them diet food in consultation with the medical officer.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Monday told a special court here that former ICICI Bank CEO and MD Chanda Kochhar misappropriated the lender's funds for personal use. The probe agency, represented by special public prosecutor A Limosin, made this argument while urging the special court to take cognizance of the chargesheet filed against Chanda Kochhar, her husband Deepak Kochhar and others in a case pertaining to cheating and irregularities in sanctioning of loans to Videocon Group firms. Chanda Kochhar was MD and CEO of ICICI Bank between May 2009 and January 2019 in which capacity she was entrusted with the Bank's funds, the CBI told court.
Valuers have found almost no assets to pay for their claims against the Videocon group that entered the insolvency process in 2018. But the dissenters suggest that the money is elsewhere, possibly in the group's oil and gas assets, which are not part of the group's bankruptcy case.
The Bombay high court on Friday heard prosecution and defence arguments on the applications of former ICICI Bank CEO and MD Chanda Kochhar and her businessman-husband Deepak Kochhar, challenging their arrest by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in an alleged loan fraud case, and reserved its verdict which will be delivered on Monday. The Kochhars, along with Videocon group founder Venugopal Dhoot, were arrested by the CBI late last month for their alleged roles in the case and the trio is currently in jail under judicial custody. The Kochhar couple has termed their arrest as "illegal" on the ground that no sanction was obtained prior to the CBI action as required under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA).