Arcil offers Rs 700 cr for L&T Fin's Xrbia book

Mumbai: Global investment firm Avenue Capital-backed Asset Reconstruction Company of India (Arcil) has emerged as the highest bidder for L&T Finance's real estate portfolio of Pune-based Xrbia group, said two persons aware of the development.

Arcil offered ₹700 crore in a combination of cash and security receipts for a portfolio of ₹880 crore, the people said. The ARC's offer would translate into a recovery of 80% for the finance company.

"L&T Finance held an auction last Thursday and Arcil was the sole bidder," one person cited above said. The offer from Arcil was 15% cash and 85% in the form of security receipts (SR) to be paid on recovery of the loan.


The company was also in talks with Aditya Birla ARC and Phoenix ARC to sell the same portfolio.

Last February, L&T Finance invited offers from ARCs for the sale of five Xrbia Group companies. These include Xrbia Developers with a debt of ₹435 crore, Xrbia Chakan Developers with ₹164 crore, Xrbia Warai Developers with ₹156 crore, Xrbia Ambience Realty LLP with ₹107 crore and Eiffel Lifespaces with ₹18 crore debt.

L&T Finance and Arcil did not respond to ET's request for comment.

Phoneix ARC to ACQUIRE TWO LOAN POOLS FROM BANDHAN
In a separate development, Phoenix ARC is set to acquire Bandhan Bank's two pools of non-performing assets (NPA) after the bank received no counteroffer at a Swiss challenge auction held last week.

Phoenix ARC offered ₹369 crore for an NPA pool of ₹2,614 crore and ₹370 crore for a pool of ₹2,316 crore. Phoenix ARC and Bandhan Bank did not respond to ET's query. The offer, a combination of cash and SR, will equate to a 15% recovery.

L&T Finance and Bandhan Bank have been selling distressed loans to clean their books.

During the December quarter, L&T Finance and its subsidiary sold ₹1,827.5 crore distressed loan pool to Arcil for ₹1,092.5 crore under the 15:85 structure. Bandhan sold a distressed portfolio of ₹8,897 crore to Phoenix for ₹801 crore in a combination of cash and SRs.