Lenders to Reliance Capital voted for the second round of auction on January 16

The polling, which began on Monday, ended on Tuesday afternoon. The auction may take place on January 16.

“The bids of the first round are also valid. Bidders can either offer the old bid or raise the bid,” said a banker, one of the two people cited above, on condition of anonymity.

The decision also provides a fresh opportunity to other initial bidders, including the Cosmea-Piramal consortium and Oaktree Capital, to revise bids. Lenders, however, say that the two bidders, who were out of the race in the first round itself, are unlikely to bid much.

On Monday, Torrent Investments moved the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) seeking a stay on the second round of voting process; However, the court declined to grant interim relief to Torrent.

At the center of the controversy is the bid submitted by the Hinduja Group 24 hours after the auction deadline, which was higher than the top offer made by Torrent within the stipulated time.

In the first round, which ended on 21 December, Torrent was the highest bidder. 8,640 crore, followed by Hinduja Group 8,110 crores. Hinduja revises his bid a day after e-auction to Rs 9,000 crore 8,110 crores. Hinduja, who came second during the auction process, made an offer 8,800 crore advance.

Torrent approached the NLCT against this and asked the lenders to put Hinduja’s post-auction offer on hold till the final hearing.

Last Friday Torrent offered the full bid amount 8,640 crore as cash advance citing the difference on the net present value as reported by consultants Deloitte and KPMG.

Even after submitting the revised bids, the bids of Torrent and Hinduja Group are well below the liquidation value determined by the independent valuers.

According to estimates submitted by appraisers, the liquidation value of Duff & Phelps was arrived at 12,500 crore, while RBSA pegged it at 13,200 crores.