Jaypee Infratech insolvency: Lenders, home buyers approve NBCC's bid to acquire debt-laden realty firm

New Delhi: Jaypee Infratech's financial creditors, including lenders and homebuyers, have approved the bid of state-owned NBCC to acquire the debt-laden realty firm under insolvency process, according to sources.

They said that NBCC's resolution plan has been approved by the Committee of Creditors (CoC) with 97.36 percent voting.

This is the third round of bidding process to find a buyer for Jaypee Infratech, which went into Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) in August 2017.

The successful resolution will provide a big relief to over 20,000 homebuyers across various housing projects launched by Jaypee Infratech in Noida and Greater Noida (Uttar Pradesh) for many years.

NBCC has proposed to complete these pending projects in the next three-and-a-half years.

The simultaneous voting to bids of both the contenders --- NBCC and Mumbai-based Suraksha Realty -- ended late Monday night.

Representational image. Reuters.

As many as 13 banks and over 23,000 homebuyers have voting rights in the CoC. Buyers have nearly 58 percent votes and lenders 42 percent. For a bid to be approved, 66 percent votes are required.

According to sources, most of the homebuyers and lenders voted for NBCC.

Jaypee Infratech's Interim Resolution Professional ( IRP) Anuj Jain had admitted homebuyers' claim amounting to over Rs 13,000 crore and lenders' claim of nearly Rs 9,800 crore.

In its latest bids, NBCC offered 1,526 acres to lenders under land-debt swap deal.

On Yamuna Expressway, NBCC has proposed to transfer the road asset to lenders but before that it would take loan of around Rs 2,500 crore against toll revenue to fund construction spend.

For homebuyers, NBCC has proposed to complete pending about 20,000 flats in three-and-a-half years, while Suraksha in three years.

Jaypee Infratech, a subsidiary of crisis-hit Jaiprakash Associates, went into insolvency process in August 2017 after the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) admitted an application by an IDBI Bank-led consortium.

Anuj Jain was appointed as an Interim Resolution Professional to conduct insolvency process and also manage the affairs of the company.

In the first round of insolvency proceedings conducted last year, the Rs 7,350-crore bid of Lakshdeep, part of Suraksha Group, was rejected by lenders. The CoC rejected the bids of Suraksha Realty and NBCC in the second round held in May-June this year.

The matter reached to the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) and then the apex court.

On 6 November, the Supreme Court directed completion of Jaypee Infratech's insolvency process within 90 days and said the revised resolution plan will be invited only from NBCC and Suraksha Realty.