Pune-based real estate developer Ashdan Properties has emerged as the highest bidder to take over the ₹14,000 crore debt of Rolta India with a bid valued at close to ₹760 crore on a net present value (NPV) basis, people familiar with the matter said.
Ashdan’s bid beat eight other bidders including data centre company Cyfuture India and Jai Corp vice chairman Virendra Jain among others after creditors scrutinised the value of bids received.
NPV is the difference between the present value of cash inflows and outflows discounted over a period of time. It is used to arrive at a comparative valuation of bids which have different components in a bankruptcy process.
“Ashdan is the top bidder after more than a month of scrutiny and valuations. Cyfuture was second at around ₹730 crore based on NPV. Lenders will now negotiate the nitty-gritty and see if there is scope to improve valuations following which the plan will be put to vote,” said a person familiar with the process.
Though a software company, Rolta’s bidders have valued its real estate properties across India, most of which are kept as collateral, as its software has little or no value.
This is the second attempt to find a buyer for Rolta after the initial process received only one bid last year.
Kamal Singh-promoted Rolta is a defence-focused software company which was admitted to the bankruptcy process in January 2023. It owes banks led by the Union Bank of India a total of ₹7,100 crore and another ₹6,699 crore to unsecured foreign bondholders led by Citigroup.
Ashdan’s bid equals less than 6% recovery on the total debt and about 11% recovery for secured financial creditors led by Union Bank. Payment details and structure of Ashdan’s bid could not be ascertained.
Resolution professional (RP) Mamta Binani did not reply to an email seeking comment. Ashdan could not be immediately contacted for comment.
Rolta’s insolvency process had received nine bids mostly ranging between ₹500 crore to ₹700 crore, ET reported in its December 8 edition.
Bankers are likely to negotiate further terms with Ashdan before putting the plan to vote.
Ashdan is not a stranger to the IBC process having been the successful resolution applicant in a three-member consortium taking over the debt-laden real estate company DS Kulkarni Developers which received NCLT nod in July last year.
