Future Retail RP Seeks Fresh Bids; Offers Two Options To Suitors

Future Retail Ltd.'s resolution professional (RP) sought fresh expression of interest (EoI) for the company by giving two options after the previous attempt yielded no resolution plans from suitors.

The last date for receipt of EoI for one or more assets of Future Retail, a part of Future Group, is 7 April, the bankrupt Indian retailer’s RP Vijaykumar Iyer said in an announcement.

The EoI must be submitted at infrlip@deloitte.com, he added.

All prospective resolution applicants (PRAs) have the choice of submitting their EoI through two options, according to the EoI document.

They are as under:

• Option I - Submission of EOI for Future Retail as a whole (including its subsidiaries)

• Option II - Submission of EOI for one or more clusters of Future Retail

Under Option II, Future Retail’s business has been classified under five clusters:

Cluster I

Business on standalone basis comprising zone-wise stores as under:

Large Format Stores: Four Zones

• North and Central: 10 stores

• South: 3 stores

• East: 6 stores

• West: 11 stores

Small Format Stores: Three Zones

• North: 179 stores

• South: 71 stores

• East: 22 stores

The PRAs may submit their EoI/resolution plan for specific zones for Cluster I. However, they will not be able to submit their EoI/resolution plan for selective stores within a zone.

Cluster II

• Equity stake of Future Retail in Travel News Service (India) Private Ltd., which is the holding company of TNSI Retail Private Ltd. (which collectively owns and manages the WHSmith Business) and of Welcome Retail Private Ltd.

Cluster III

• Foodhall Business comprising of the brand ‘Foodhall’ and all business related assets, including all operational stores (which may be taken over by the successful resolution applicant, subject to the terms and conditions of the lease agreement of the operational Foodhall stores).

Cluster IV

• Inventory and fixed assets at various locations which are not part of Cluster I and Cluster III.

Cluster V

• Residual entity/assets/investments/brands of Future Retail not covered in the above clusters.

Iyer said it would be mandatory for PRAs to submit the soft copy of the signed EoI as well as the signed EoI documents in a sealed envelope. Also, the PRAs must not be ineligible under Section 29A of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), he noted.

The provisional list of PRAs is expected to be issued on 8 April, while final list will likely be released on 13 April.

The deadline for submission of resolution plans will be 15 May.

Future Retail, which failed to get any bids by the submission deadline in February despite initial interest from several suitors, was admitted into an insolvency resolution by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in July 2022.

The development came following a petition by the company’s financial creditor Bank of India over an alleged default amount of 1,441.62 crore rupees ($175 million).

Kishore Biyani, who had resigned from the position of company’s executive chairman and director in January, earlier this month withdrew his resignation. The development came after Iyer objected to the contents of Biyani’s resignation letter as well as the resignation and requested him to recall his resignation letter.

(Note: $1 = 82.2524 Indian rupees)

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