Varde-Arena consortium revises bid; emerges as highest bidder for Srei

The Varde Partners-Arena consortium has emerged as the highest bidder after it submitted a revised bid on Thursday with an additional cash component of Rs 3,600 crore for the two Srei group of companies under the insolvency and bankruptcy process, sources said.

It has offered a marginally higher cash component in its earlier bid, which was higher than National Asset Reconstruction Company Ltd (NARCL) and Authum, which came in second and third position on that count, sources said.

The last day of the bid for Srei Infrastructure Finance (SIFL) and Srei Equipment Finance (SEFL) ended on Thursday.

On an aggregate basis as well, the Varde-Arena consortium has bid the highest amount totalling over Rs 14,000 crore, including bonds, OCDs and equity and upfront cash, the sources said.

The Committee of Creditors (CoC) would take a call on the revised bid submitted by the consortium of Varde Partners and Arena in its meeting on Friday.

The government-backed NARCL had on Wednesday submitted the "highest net present value bid of Rs 5,555 crore".

According to the sources, Varde Arena has also submitted a letter to the Srei Administrator alleging the ongoing CIRP process as completely 'unreasonable, unfair' and adopting a 'proprietary Challenge' method on short notice.

The challenge, according to the letter, was carried out within an extremely short timeline of just one week without any consideration of prior requests for adequate time for evaluation, considering Christmas and New Year holidays in the US.

Varde currently manages over USD 13 billion in assets with teams in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific focused on corporate and traded credit, real estate, and financial services.

Arena Investors is a global institutional asset manager that provides creative solutions for those seeking capital in special situations with an AUM of USD 3 billion.

The consortium has asked the Administrator to update the CoC with these issues in the overall interest of all the stakeholders, the sources said.

The Committee of Creditors (CoC) of Srei lenders will take cognizance of the valuation report of the twin Srei Group companies undergoing a resolution process on Friday.

If the fair and liquidation value of Srei Infrastructure Finance and Srei Equipment Finance will be greater than the resolution plans submitted by the three bidders, the CoC may not consider them.