SBI again seeks EOIs for Videocon’s offshore assets

State Bank of India (SBI) has sought expressions of interest (EoIs) for the sale of overseas oil and gas assets owned by Videocon Oil Ventures (VOVL) on behalf of a consortium of lenders, according to a public notice. This is the second time since October 2018 that banks have sought EoIs for these assets.

While SBI Capital Markets (SBICaps) was managing the process for lenders the last time, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India has been mandated to carry out the fresh process.

The sale will be carried out to monetise upstream oil and gas assets located in Brazil and Indonesia belonging to VOVL, which is a subsidiary of Videocon Industries. The parent company is currently undergoing the corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP).

In July 2018, SBICaps had sought bids for the appointment of consultants who would validate the costs associated with the running of VOVL’s upstream oil and gas assets in the two geographies.

VOVL is understood to be one of the accounts that were to be resolved by August 27 as per the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) February 12 circular, which was struck down by the Supreme Court as ultra vires in April 2019. Thereafter, it was replaced by the June 7 circular, which tweaked some of the provisions and guidelines of its predecessor.

Fifty-four financial creditors to Videocon Industries had filed claims worth `59,452 crore as on December 24, of which claims worth `57,444 crore were admitted. SBI had claimed `11,175 crore, of which `10,979 crore was admitted. Other lenders with large claims were IDBI Bank, which saw almost all of its `9,561-crore claim being admitted, and Central Bank of India that claimed `5,067 crore and saw 5,063 crore being admitted.

On January 1, 2018, SBI filed an insolvency petition against Videocon Industries in the Mumbai Bench of the National Company Law Tribunal, claiming that the company had defaulted on facilities worth `498.63 crore extended by the bank and its former associates. The petition was admitted on June 6 last year.

State Bank of India