Ambani, Adani among 13 bidders for Future Retail

Firms run by billionaires Gautam Adani and Mukesh Ambani are among the 13 companies that have submitted initial bids to acquire Future Retail Ltd, a filing by the debt-laden company said.

Ambani’s Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Ltd, submitted the expression of interest (EoI) under insolvency proceedings initiated to recover dues Future Retail owes to lenders. April Moon Retail Private Ltd, a joint venture between Adani Airport holdings and Flemingo group, also submitted an EoI. The deadline for submission of EoI ended on October 20, Future Retail, which was once the country’s second-largest retailer, said in the stock exchange filing.

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Future Retail was dragged into bankruptcy proceedings by banks after it defaulted on loans and its lenders rejected a Rs 24,713-crore takeover of its assets by Reliance amid a legal challenge by Amazon. Other entities that have submitted EOIs include Boomidala Enterprises Pvt Ltd, Capri Global Holdings Pvt Ltd, Shalimar Corporation Ltd, Nalwa Steel & Power, United Biotech, WHSmith Travel, and United Biotech Pvt Ltd.

Consortium of B-Right Real Estate Ltd and Ayekart Fintech Pvt Ltd, Dharampal Satyapal Ltd, Dickey Alternative Investment Trust (DAIT), Payard Investments Pvt Ltd and SNVK Hospitality and Management Pvt Ltd were other bidders. State Bank of India (SBI), Bank of India (BoI) and 31 other lenders had submitted loan claims of about Rs 21,060 crore in August under the insolvency process.

“Certain issues pertaining to the expressions of interest received from the prospective resolution applicants have been noticed and the same has been duly communicated to the prospective resolution applicants by the resolution professional and/or his authorised representatives,” the filing said without giving details. It further stated that anyone having any objection to the inclusion or exclusion of a prospective bidder in the list may submit it by November 15.