Godrej Agrovet tables bid for Ruchi Soya's palm oil business; CoC expected to meet next week

Hyderabad: Godrej Agrovet, part of Godrej group, on Wednesday said it is keen to acquire Oil Palm business of Ruchi Soya Industries, which is facing insolvency proceedings, and has submitted its bid in this regard. Balram Singh Yadav, Managing Director, Godrej Agrovet Limited, said the committee of creditors to the bankrupt Ruchi Soya, an Indore-based firm, is expected to meet next week to finalise the bids. “We are in the race. We have made a bid through National Company Law Tribunal. The Committee of Creditors probably in a week’s time will open the bids. We are very keen on some part of Ruchi Soya. We are more keen on their oil palm plantation business. That is very attractive because we also have that business. We know that business very well. That is our primary focus as far as Ruchi Soya is concerned,” Yadav told PTI. In December 2017, Ruchi Soya Industries Ltd, which has a debt of Rs 10,000 crore, entered the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process and Shailendra Ajmera was appointed to act as Interim Resolution Professional. [caption id=“attachment_4472075” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Image courtesy: Twitter / GodrejGroup[/caption] Patanjali Ayurved, a fast moving consumer goods firm, run by yoga guru Baba Ramdev and Adani Wilmar, which sells cooking oil under Fortune brand, are among the other bidders. Replying to a query, Yadav said they clocked Rs 5,200 crore revenue and expects to record higher growth during the current fiscal. He said the company’s Animal Feed division is expected to yield better results backed by favourable commodity prices. “My sense is that the growth (Animal Feed division) will be more than double this year as per the trend which I am seeing now,” he said. Creamline Dairy Products Limited (CDPL), subsidiary of Godrej Agrovet Limited, announced the launch of ‘Jersey Thickshakes’ on Wednesday. ‘Jersey Thickshakes’ are manufactured at Creamline Dairy Private Limited’s state-of-the-art plant near Hyderabad. In December 2015, Godrej Agrovet acquired a majority stake in CDPL. With a processing capacity of above 12 lakh litres per day and over 100 collection centres, CDPL has a strong distribution network in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and parts of Maharashtra.