Mumbai: The Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has allowed the resolution professional (RP) of listed textile maker Mandhana Industries (MIL) to exclude the time between the admission of insolvency petition from the date of uploading an order, which will pave the way for lenders to evaluate the bids to acquire the company.
Mumbai-based Mandhana Industries’ affiliate Mandhana Retail Ventures has a licensing agreement with Bollywood star Salman Khan’s foundation to manufacture and market products under the brand name of ‘Being Human’.
On Friday, senior counsel Ravi Kadam, who was appearing for the RP of Mandhana Industries, argued that the tribunal had admitted the insolvency petition filed by Bank of India on 27 September 2017, but the order was uploaded on 11 October 2017 and hence there was a huge gap of 13 days that needs to be exclude when the tribunal count the 270 days for the resolution process.
“The company has received the H1 (highest bid) from one bidder and another H2 (second highest) bidder has increased its bid which the committee of creditors (CoC) wants to consider," argued Kadam further adding that if the date on which the order was uploaded can be excluded, then the lenders can fully evaluate the second bid as well.
Last year, Bank of Baroda and Bank of India had approached the tribunal under insolvency code to recover its dues. At the time of admission of the insolvency petition, the company owed Rs1,062 crore to the consortium of lenders.
“Till the time order is not available to the resolution professional, he or she can’t go to the management of the company to seek the charge of the company, and hence, the days need to be excluded," argued Kadam.
The Mumbai bench of NCLT, presided over by B.S.V. Prakash Kumar and Ravi Kumar Duraisamy, allowed an application filed by the resolution professional, which means now the 270 days deadline for the resolution will get over on 8 July 2018.
An email query to Charu Desai, the resolution professional of the Mandhana Industries didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Mandhana Industries had demerged its retail venture Mandhana Retail Ventures (MRVL) in 2011. Later MRVL entered into exclusive global brand license agreement with ‘Being Human – the Salman Khan Foundation’ to use the trademark logo of ‘Being Human’ for its all clothe range until March 2020. The promoters Mandhana family owns around 32% and 37.75% respectively in MIL and MRVL.
The interested bidders to acquire Mandhana Industries needs to have minimum net-worth of ₹ 50 crore and a consolidated group turnover of ₹ 00 crore in textile manufacturing or trading business. The shortlisted candidate also requires demonstrating the ability to invest minimum equity of ₹ 100 crore.
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