Reliance To Take Over JBF Industries With CFM ARC

Company Performance

Reliance To Take Over JBF Industries With CFM ARC

According to media report, Reliance Industries (RIL) is likely to take over stressed polyester manufacturer JBF Industries in consortium with CFM Asset Reconstruction Company (ARC). Bankers had sought takeover bids in July, and the Ahmedabad-based CFM ARC is understood to have put in a Rs 825-crore bid for the company, which owes its lenders Rs 2,116 crore. The auction was in the form of a Swiss challenge, where banks ask interested bidders to better an existing bid for an asset. The original bidder gets the right of first refusal. In the case of JBF Industries, the RIL-backed bid by CFM ARC is understood to be the only one. The lead lender to JBF Industries is Bank of Baroda, with an outstanding amount of Rs 500 crore. The other lenders include Canara Bank, Bank of India, Union Bank of India, IDBI Bank, ACRE, Standard Chartered Bank, ICICI Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, DBS Bank, Axis Bank, IFCI and South Indian Bank. According to a bid document, JBF Industries is engaged in the production of products in the polyester value chain, such as PET chips, which are of bottle grade, textile grade and film grade; polyester yarn, such as partially oriented yarn, polyester filament yarn, fully drawn yarn and other specialised yarn; and PET films, which are of thin grade, thick grade and metallised grade. The company defaulted on its debt obligations due to its weakened liquidity position, according to a rating report by Care Ratings. In 2020, RIL had acquired a 37.7% stake in textile firm Alok Industries through the insolvency resolution process. It had participated in the bidding process for the company in consortium with JM Financial ARC.