Patanjali Gets Time Till May 7 For Ruchi Soya’s Resolution Plan

Patanjali Ayurved sought more time from the National Company Law Tribunal to file a detailed resolution plan for edible oil firm Ruchi Soya which it has agreed to take over for Rs 4,325 crore.

The company owes Rs 9,345 crore to the lenders led by the State Bank of India who on Tuesday agreed, with around 96 percent vote, to go with the second revised bid by the company promoted by yoga practitioner Ram Dev.

Its initial offer was Rs 4,160 crore along with an Rs 1,700 crore working capital. The deal leaves the banks with a huge haircut of over 51 percent of the debt.

Granting time to Patanjali, the tribunal comprising VP Singh and Ravikumar Duraisamy posted the matter for further hearing on May 7.

When contacted, Patanjali spokesman SK Tijarawala confirmed the Tuesday bid approval. "We are informed about the development. Voting has gone in our favour. Tomorrow they would give us the voting result and then we would proceed further," he said.

Ruchi Soya has many plants and its leading brands include Nutrela, Mahakosh, Sunrich, Ruchi Star and Ruchi Gold and has one of the best functional and the largest infrastructure for soyabean," Patanjali's Tijarawala said, as the reason revising the bid upwards.

Adani Wilmar, which sells edible oil under the Fortune brand, was the highest bidder last August after a long-drawn battle with Patanjali. Adani Wilmar had then said the process was getting delayed as Patanjali moved the Mumbai NCLT.

Patanjali approached NCLT challenging the decision of Ruchi Soya's lenders to approve Adani Wilmar's bid. The deal would help the Haridwar-based firm, which is struggling to keep growth momentum that it had seen previously.