RattanIndia closer to debt resolution, set to revive Maharashtra power plant

Mumbai: New Delhi-based RattanIndia Power is closer to a debt resolution with lenders, allowing the company to bring in new investors and help revive the defunct coal-fired power plant at Amravati in Maharashtra.

The company has accepted a letter of intent (LoI) by Aditya Birla ARC to buy out the bank debt for its 1350 MW, Phase I, thermal power project. The company owes lenders led by Power Finance Corp (PFC) a total of Rs 7,000 crore, most of which was used to finance the first phase of the project based in Amaravati. It was to generate a total of 2,700 MW of power.

Shares ended at Rs 1.53 a piece on BSE, down 3.16 per cent on Wednesday.

“The deal is for a one-time settlement through which the ARC will buy Rs 4,000 crore of the Rs 7,000-crore debt at a haircut. It means banks can exit the company after taking the hit and it also frees up the management of the company to try for a revival,” said a banker involved in the negotiations.

State-owned Power Finance Corp (PFC) had filed an insolvency plea against Rattan India Power, formerly known as Indiabulls Power, in the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to recover unpaid loans. However, that petition had to be withdrawn after the Supreme Court struck down the central bank circular taking power companies to IBC last year. RattanIndia has two thermal power plants at Nashik and Amravati in Maharashtra.

Lenders had signed the mandatory inter creditor agreement (ICA) for restructuring loans to the company a couple of months ago. In a notice to the stock exchanges on Monday, the company said Aditya Birla ARC’s LoI will be subject to approval of lenders.

“Aditya Birla ARC's LoI has been accepted by RattanIndia Power. Now it is up to lenders but they have been very receptive,” said a person aware of the deal. “The Amravati project is getting settled. Varde and Aditya Birla are looking at a onetime settlement.”

Aditya Birla ARC is a subsidiary of Aditya Birla Capital. It has entered into a strategic joint venture with the US-based private equity company Varde Partners to pursue investments in stressed assets in India.

However, a deal is not yet final as the Goldman Sachs Group and SSG Capital have also looked at this portfolio buyout, but backed out earlier this year.