According to anonymous sources, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has given approval to billionaire Ajay Piramal’s Piramal Group for the takeover of the bankrupt Home Loan firm Dewan Housing Finance Corporation (DHFL), Moneycontrol reported.
DHFL is now working on a proposal which will be taken to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in a few days where the legalities of the acquisition will be worked upon.
This update has come only a month after the Piramal Group won the auction to take over Dewan Housing in which it was contending against Oaktree, an American asset management company. Although Oaktree’s bid was the highest at Rs 35,700 crore compares to Piramal’s, which was at ₹32,250 crore, Piramal bagged the deal since it was offering higher upfront payment to creditors and equity infusion into DHFL.
The board of DHFL, in a meeting on January 15, voted in favour of Piramal for the takeover. Piramal Enterprises was able to get more than 94% votes, while Oaktree was lagging far behind at 45% votes, followed by another bidder, Adani Capital, at 18% votes.
DHFL had declared bankruptcy in 2018, when its losses reached record high due to the then-ongoing liquidity crunch in the Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) sector.
