Patanjali enters fray for bankrupt Ruchi Soya; Paytm may buy TicketNew

By Keshav Sunkara

  • 24 Apr 2018
Credit: Shah Junaid/VCCircle

Patanjali Ayurved Ltd, the fast-moving consumer goods firm run by yoga guru Baba Ramdev, has made a Rs 9,000 crore ($1.38 billion) bid to acquire bankrupt edible oils manufacturer Ruchi Soya Industries Ltd, The Hindu BusinessLine reported.

According to the report, Ruchi Soya has so far received bids from more than 26 suitors including ITC, Phoenix ARC, Emami Group, AION Capital Partners and private equity giant KKR.

Ruchi Soya is in the midst of insolvency resolution proceedings initiated by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) following petitions from creditors Standard Chartered Bank and DBS Bank.

The company's debt stood at around Rs 12,000 crore at the end of last year.

While all the bids are yet to be officially opened, the report quoted persons familiar with the matter as saying that Patanjali's bid could be one of the highest.

Ruchi Soya, which sells food products and edible oils under the brands Nutrela, Mahakosh, Sunrich, Ruchi Gold and Ruchi Star, expects the process to be completed by June 13.

A 51% stake sale to private equity major Devonshire Capital was deemed null and void after the NCLT admitted the insolvency case against Ruchi Soya late last year.

Digital payments major Paytm is reportedly in advanced negotiations to acquire Chennai-based Orbgen Technologies Pvt. Ltd, which runs online ticketing platform TicketNew.

Citing two people aware of the development, The Economic Times reported that Paytm will buy TicketNew from Alibaba Pictures Group Ltd, and the deal value could be around $30-40 million. The transaction is likely to be completed by next month.

The entertainment arm of the Jack Ma-led Alibaba Group had last June picked up a majority stake in online ticketing platform TicketNew for an undisclosed amount.

Alibaba and its affiliates together are majority stakeholders in Paytm's parent company, One97 Communications Ltd.

TicketNew integrates single-screen theatres, film distributors, production houses and events with users.

Paytm Wallet, operated by Noida-headquartered Paytm Payments Bank Ltd, started online ticket-booking services in March 2016 to diversify its offerings.

Last year, Paytm acquired a majority stake in Insider.in, a ticketing and events discovery platform.

BookMyShow is the leader in the space.

Mumbai-based payment solutions provider AGS Transact Technologies Ltd is looking to raise under Rs 1,000 crore through an initial public offering (IPO), Mint reported citing two people aware of the development.

Investment banks ICICI Securities and Axis Capital have been given the mandate for managing the share sale, according to the report.

AGS, set up in 2002, installs and manages ATMs. It also provides cash management and vault services through its subsidiary Securevalue India Ltd.

The company had planned an initial public offering on two occasions in the past but later shelved those plans.

According to the Mint report, the development comes at a time when the promoters are in talks to buy back a 42% stake held by private equity investors TPG Growth and Actis.

TPG Growth held a 25.96% stake in AGS and Actis owned 16.44% as on 31 March 2017, according to VCCEdge, the research arm of NewsCorp VCCircle.