New Delhi : Fair trade regulator Competition Commission has approved the acquisition of Ruchi Soya by Adani Wilmar.
Adani Wilmar had emerged as the highest bidder (H1) with an offer of about Rs 6,000 crore for Ruchi Soya, which is facing insolvency proceedings. “@CCI_India finds no appreciable adverse effect on competition in proposed acquisition of Ruchi Soya by Adani Wilmar Limited,” the regulator said in a tweet.
Mergers and acquisitions beyond a certain threshold require the approval of the Competition Commission of India (CCI). Adani Wilmar, which sells cooking oil under the Fortune brand, and Baba Ramdev-led Patanjali were in the fray to acquire debt-ridden Ruchi Soya.
Adani has emerged as the highest bidder (H1) with an offer of about Rs 6,000 crore, while Patanjali’s bid is worth around Rs 5,700 crore. Ruchi Soya has a total debt of about Rs 12,000 crore. The company has many manufacturing plants and its leading brands include Nutrela, Mahakosh, Sunrich, Ruchi Star and Ruchi Gold.
In December 2017, Ruchi Soya Industries entered into the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process and Shailendra Ajmera was appointed as the RP.
The company on Monday reported a net profit of Rs 22.61 crore for the quarter ended June 30. Its net loss stood at Rs 286.24 crore in the year-ago period, according to a regulatory filing. Total income, however, dropped to Rs 2,992.52 crore during the first quarter of 2018-19 from Rs 3,280.18 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year.
Finance cost declined to Rs 2 crore from Rs 197 crore during the period under review. The company has not recognised interest payable worth nearly Rs 700 crore for the last fiscal as well as the first quarter of this fiscal.
