The Reserve Bank on Monday superseded the boards of Srei Infrastructure Finance as well as Srei Equipment Finance, citing concerns over governance and payment defaults, and decided to refer the two NBFCs for resolution under the insolvency law. This is only the second time in as many years that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is referring entities for the resolution process under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) after taking first ever such step in the case of DHFL back in 2019. Superseding the boards of the crisis-hit Srei Infrastructure Finance Limited (SIFL) and Srei Equipment Finance Limited (SEFL), the RBI has appointed Rajneesh Sharma, former Chief General Manager of Bank of Baroda as the administrator to manage the affairs of the two companies.
A lot depends on how Srei shapes up under the new administrator and his team, which is critical for investors' interest.
Only a limited set of investors should invest directly in corporate bonds.
Superseding the boards of two non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) in the Srei group will neither create liquidity challenges for sound entities, nor build systemic crises because the markets have factored in the problems with the Kolkata-based firms. Such regulatory steps will help in making the NBFC space more robust, bankers and market experts said. The action should have begun earlier because the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had done a special audit last financial year and asked the group to make provisions for assets considered stressed, analysts said.
Hemant Kanoria tells Niraj Bhatt why understanding the dynamics of the borrower's business is critical for the lender.
SREI Infrastructure Finance Limited, one of the leading infrastructure project finance and infrastructure equipment finance company in India, got listed in the LSE on Thursday.
SREI International Finance has roped in BIO of Belgium for a Rs 25 crore (Rs 250 million) investment for funding of infrastructure equipment and renewable energy products.
Srei International Finance Limited, which would be renamed as Srei Infrastructure Finance Limited, expects its asset base growing to over $1 billion by 2006-07 on tremendous growth in the infrastructure sector of the country.
The fund, with an initial corpus of $150 million, is set to be the first of its kind, said two independent industry sources familiar with the development.
Lenders to Kingfisher Airlines, led by State Bank of India, had moved courts to get residual rights over these shares after Srei recovered the collateral from the defunct Kingfisher Airlines, making it difficult for Srei to sell the shares, said a legal source.
Infrastructure equipment and finance company SREI International Finance, along with its associate company Indian Infrastructure Equipment, has struck a deal with Tata Motors for 10,000 vehicles.
Lenders of debt-ridden Reliance Capital have voted in favour of a resolution plan submitted by Hinduja Group firm IndusInd International Holdings Ltd (IIHL) which made the highest cash offer of Rs 9,661 crore in the second round of bidding. As much as 99 per cent votes were in favour of IIHL as lenders expected to recover cash upfront of Rs 9,661 crore from the Hinduja Group entity, sources said. Besides, sources said cash balance with Reliance Capital (RCAP) of over Rs 500 crore would also go to lenders. So, in all lenders are expected to receive about Rs 10,200 crore for distribution as against Rs 16,000 crore principal secured debt, resulting in 65 per cent recovery for the lenders, sources said.
The RBI said the board has been superseded "in view of the defaults by RCL in meeting the various payment obligations to its creditors and serious governance concerns which the Board has not been able to address effectively". It has also appointed Nageswar Rao Y (ex-executive director, Bank of Maharashtra) as the administrator of the NBFC.
Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, Ram, Laxmi, stories from the Hindu epics are seen in carvings, paintings and murals, as well as recognisable figures from mythology, like Garuda, Sheshnag, Nandi and Apsaras, notes Deepa Gahlot, savouring the beauty of Cambodia.
A Hinduja Group firm on Wednesday emerged as the highest bidder with an offer of Rs 9,650 crore to take over debt-ridden Reliance Capital in the second round of auction, sources said. The bid by IndusInd International Holdings Ltd (IIHL) is higher than Rs 8,640 crore offer made by Torrent Investments in the first round of auction held in December last year. The other two suitors -- Torrent Investments and Oaktree -- did not participate in the second round of auction, sources said.
The insolvency process of debt-ridden Reliance Capital Ltd (RCL) on Tuesday hit a roadblock as the NCLT Mumbai has stayed the resolution process on the plea of Torrent Group. The stay order was issued by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) as the Ahmedabad-based Torrent Group challenged the revised bid from Hinduja Group, sources said. Torrent Group, which emerged as the highest bidder with an Rs 8,640 crore offer, had moved the NCLT-Mumbai against Hinduja Group's late revised bid, which it had submitted after the completion of the e-auction process on December 21.
Aided by the $57.8-billion merger of HDFC Bank and HDFC, India Inc reported its highest ever mergers and acquisitions in calendar 2022 at $171 billion as against deals worth $145 billion announced last year. The acquisition by the Adani group across cement, media and ports dominated the headlines with the conglomerate making its foray into the cement sector by buying Swiss materials firm Holcim's stake in Ambuja Cements for $6.5 billion. The Adani family's additional $4-billion open offer for Ambuja did not get a response because shareholders preferred to stay invested with the new owner.
Indian Bank expects recoveries to be more than slippages in this financial year, which will result in improved asset quality.
The RBI on Thursday filed an application for initiation of Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) against debt-ridden Reliance Capital at the Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal. The Reserve Bank had on November 29 superseded the board of Anil Ambani-promoted Reliance Capital Ltd (RCL) in view of payment defaults and serious governance issues. The central bank had also appointed Nageswar Rao Y (former executive director, Bank of Maharashtra) as the administrator of the company.
Banks do extensive investigation before declaring an account fraud; they owe it to us as they deal with our money. Why would they try to fix an innocent borrower? asks Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das on Wednesday said underlying economic activity in India continues to be strong, but external factors will cause some "dent" to the economy. Speaking at the BFSI Insight Summit 2022 organised by Business Standard, Das said the RBI tracks 70 fast moving indicators and most of them are in the "green box". It is the external sector, mired by a fear of recession or clear visibility about slowing growth in a large part of the world, where the challenges lie, he said, adding that the impact of external demand will "dent" the economy.
New norms are in place to strengthen regulations for this set of lenders which has been playing a critical role in Asia's third largest economy, notes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Srei Infra Finance group chief financial officer Sanjeev K Sancheti described the asset as a good buy as it is a fully secured debt.
With the Jaypee acquisition, the Suraksha group, which made lenders an offer of Rs 7,736 crore, will be able to expand its footprint in north India after making inroads in Mumbai's real estate market over the past year. Sudhir Valia, the promoter, was a co-founder and executive director of India's biggest pharmaceutical firm, Sun Pharmaceuticals, and is a close relative of Dilip Shanghvi.
Srei Infrastructure Finance last month sold 50 per cent stake in a part of its business equipment financing arm to France's largest bank BNP Paribas for Rs 775 crore
Srei Infrastructure Finance is set to be the first Indian company to go for Islamic financing for over Rs 200 crore
Srei Infrastructure's vice-chairman -- and former Assocham president -- Sunil Kanoria discusses the Kanoria businesses and his impression of the Modi government with Ishita Ayan Dutt and Namrata Acharya.
The cash crunch following demonetisation and transaction fees that do not cover costs are among the reasons why the sector is struggling.
The Reserve Bank did not issue the final merger scheme for Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB) with DBS India on Friday as stated earlier and is likely to do so only next week, according to a central bank official. While placing LVB under a moratorium and then issuing a draft amalgamation scheme on November 17, the RBI had said it would issue the final merger scheme on November 20 (Friday) so as to help complete the resolution for the 94-year-old lender by December 16. However, as of 2200 hrs on Friday, the central bank did not issue the final merger scheme. When contacted, a senior RBI official told PTI that the same would now be issued early next week.
PE giants Apollo, Bain Capital and Advent International are keen to pick stake in Viom
Experts say, investors will be better off exiting them at higher levels and investing in stocks of fundamentally sound companies.
The Budget is commendable, as without making any major tax changes it has targeted a 4.6 per cent fiscal deficit for 2011-12 by focusing on achieving 9 per cent growth.
The poor deployment of WLATMs has tripped what the central bank sought to achieve back in 2012.
Investors remain cautious ahead of F&O expiry.
PNB has rich experience in the integration of commercial banks.
The company has similar pact with Bharti Infratel.
R-Infra quoted Rs 42-crore (Rs 420-million) premium over the bids of rival companies such as GVK Power and Infrastructure Limited, GMR Infrastructure, B Sennaih and C&C, JMC Srei and Sadhbhav, sources told Business Standard.
The finance minister asked lenders to identify eligible borrowers and reach out to them and urged for quick implementation of a sustained resolution plan for the revival of every viable business.