DHFL extends deadline to submit final bids by 21 days to May 7

DHFL had shortlisted 22 out of 24 applicants for the resolution of the troubled company.

By Ankur Mishra

In a late night communication to bidders on Thursday, the deadline for submission of bids for troubled mortgage lender Dewan Housing Finance Corporation (DHFL) has been extended by 21 days to May 7, sources close to the development told FE. The earlier deadline for submission of bids was April 16, 2020.

FE reported on March 25 that bidders for DHFL had requested to extend the deadline for bids beyond April 16 due to ongoing Covid-19 lockdown. This extension is in line with Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) notification to count lockdown as ‘exclusion’ period. IBBI notified on March 29 that lockdown imposed to contain the spread of novel coronavirus will be excluded from timelines mandated by the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) in the resolution process.

DHFL had shortlisted 22 out of 24 applicants for the resolution of the troubled company. FE reported that 24 applicants had submitted the expressions of interest (EoIs) for DHFL. The company had given them the option to bid for the whole company or in parts.

Of the total applicants, 14 had submitted EoIs for the entire business of DHFL. KKR India Financial Services, Welspun Group, Adani Group, Oaktree Capital, ARCIL Asset Reconstruction Company and Bain Capital were among the suitors who placed EoIs to take over the entire business. The troubled lender is undergoing a resolution process under the IBC, 2016 after the Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) admitted the case on December 2, 2019.