The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Thursday gave troubled Future Retail Ltd (FRL) until May 12 to file its response to Bank of India’s bankruptcy filing against the company.
Last week, the Bank of India asked the arbitral tribunal to open bankruptcy proceedings against FRL, which has defaulted on loan repayments.
Thursday’s NCLT hearing also came as Reliance canceled its proposed 24,713-crore deal with Future Group after secured creditors voted against it. As part of the transaction announced in August 2020, Future Group was expected to sell 19 companies operating in the retail, wholesale, logistics and warehousing segments to Reliance Retail Ventures (RRVL).
During the hearing, Gaurav Joshi, representing FRL, asked the court for more time to submit the response to the petition.
Accordingly, the NCLT’s Mumbai bank, headed by Pradeep Narhari Deshmukh and Shyam Babu Gautam, adjourned the matter for further hearing until May 12.
FRL has defaulted on paying £5,322.32 million to its lenders amid ongoing litigation with major e-commerce giant Amazon and other related issues.
Bank of India, which has filed for bankruptcy, is the lead banker in FRL’s consortium of lenders. Last month, the lender made claims on FRL’s assets through a public notice warning the public against trading in assets of Kishore Biyani-led futures group.
Several Future Group companies, including FRL, had reached arrangements with their respective lenders under the RBI circular dated August 6, 2020 announcing a resolution framework for COVID-related stress.
Future Group’s deal with Reliance was rejected by Amazon and litigation is ongoing on various forums.
