Authum Investment, consortium put firm bids for Reliance HF

Authum Investment & Infrastructure and a consortium comprising asset reconstruction company (ARC) Arcil and US distressed fund Avenue Capital Group have placed firm bids for Reliance Home Finance.

Media reports, quoting sources, said that four other bidders have submitted conditional bids, which make them non-compliant. However, the trustees are understood to have extended the last date of the bidding to January 31 to see if there are any more firm bids. The remaining bidders are mostly ARCs.

According to the reports, the troubled home financier is being put on the block by lenders who have appointed BoB Capital Markets (BoB Caps) and Ernst & Young (EY) to manage the process.

Kotak Special Situations Fund (KSSF) and Asset Care and Reconstruction Enterprise (ACRE) have submitted non-binding bids with conditions, including exclusivity, and have also asked for additional time of to complete due-diligence. The other two ARCs — Invent and Alchemist — have also submitted conditional bids without the Rs 10-crore bond.

Earlier, the lenders had indicated December 17 as the last date for submitting bids. However, banking sources quoted in the reports said that the trustees are acting on the principle of maximising value for investors by casting a wide net for prospective buyers.