Businessman Nikhil Merchant buys Debt-ridden Anil Ambani’s company Reliance Naval and Engineering Limited

By Benson | Published: December 14, 2021 05:37 PM2021-12-14T17:37:15+5:302021-12-14T17:37:15+5:30

googleNewsNext

Debt-ridden Anil Ambani’s company Reliance Naval and Engineering Limited (RNEL) has been brought by Mumbai-based industrialist Nikhil V Merchant.

RNEL is actually known as Pipavav Shipyard. According to sources, Hazel Mercantile Pvt Ltd, a consortium backed by Nikhil Merchant and his partners, made the highest bid during the third round, which is much higher than the rest.

The Committee of Creditors (COC) had last month approached the companies involved in the auction process and sought higher offers. Since then, Hazel Mercantile has revised its bid for the shipyard to Rs 2,700 crore. Earlier, they had spent Rs 2,400 crore

12,429 crore debt on RNEL - IDBI Bank (IDBI) is the lead banker of Reliance Naval. The shipyard was taken to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in January last year for recovery of arrears. About 12,429 on Reliance Naval & Engineering

Of the 10 largest borrowers on RNEL, State Bank of India has a debt of Rs 1,965 crore, while Union Bank of India has a debt of about Rs 1,555 crore.

Bids were made by three companies - Anil Ambani's company had earlier received three tenders. One of them was a Dubai-based NRI-backed company, which had bid only Rs 100 crore. Also by the company of industrialist Naveen Jindal 40

RNEL's first name was Reliance Defense and Engineering Limited. Anil Ambani's Reliance Group acquired Pipavav Defense and Offshore Engineering Limited in 2015. The company was later renamed Reliance Naval and Engineering Limited (RNEL).