NCLT gives nod to Anil Agarwal’s Twin Star Tech’s Rs 3k cr bid for Videocon Industries

Bankruptcy court NCLT has 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.

Confirming the development, Partner at Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas Anoop Rawat told PTI: “The NCLT has today approved the resolution plan filed by Twin Star Technologies. Rawat was assisting the resolution professional of Videocon Industries into the matter. The order was orally pronounced by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) into courtroom and a detailed copy of the judgement is awaited. Videocon Industries also confirmed the development through a regulatory filing.

NCLT has pronounced the order on June 8, 2021 (Tuesday) approving the Resolution Plan for the Consolidated Corporate Debtors including the Company, under Section 31 of the Code, it said.

“The Approval Order has not yet been published and is currently awaited.

Videocon Industries further informed “in terms of the Resolution Plan, the equity shares of the Company are proposed to be delisted”.

Accordingly, an appropriate disclosure would be made upon receipt of the copy of the order by the NCLT approving the Resolution Plan, it added.

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This approval will also now consolidate Vedanta’s hold in Ravva oil field. Vedanta’s interest in Videocon is principally driven by the latter’s 25 per cent stake in the Ravva oil field in the KG Basin. Vedanta, through Cairn, holds 22.5 per cent stake in Ravva and after this success, Vedanta will take its stake to 47.5 per cent, and it will be the biggest stakeholder ahead of ONGC’s 40 per cent. The average output from the Ravva block in FY20 was 14,232 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), and it increased to 22,037 boepd in the first quarter of FY21.

Following that the resolution plan was moved by the resolution professional before NCLT. The Committee of the Creditors of Videocon Industries had voted in favour of the resolution plan of Twin Star Technologies Ltd, for 13 group companies with 95 per cent votes on December 11, 2020. Later, the resolution Plan, as approved by the CoC, was filed with the NCLT for its approval on December 15, 2020.

NCLT has conducted a consolidated corporate insolvency resolution process by combining Videocon Industries and other 12 Videocon group companies. Videocon Industries owes around Rs 31,000 crore to the banks, which also includes interests. Earlier, the Dhoot family had offered to pay Rs 30,000 crore to lenders to settle their outstanding loans and pull out 13 Videocon group companies from the insolvency proceedings.

However, the creditors have chosen Vedanta Group’s offer, which has placed its resolution plan through one of its subsidiary companies. Dhoot’s settlement offer was made for 13 out of the 15 Videocon group companies, which are jointly going through the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP). Two group companies — KAIL and TREND — were not covered under the offer.