The Bombay High Court has extended the stay order on Indage Vintners’ liquidation till 17th June, giving the winemaker more time to sort out its finances. The company plans to hold meetings with secured and unsecured lenders over the next few days.
According to Ranjit Chougule, Indage Vintners managing director, the corporate debt restructuring (CDR) package of the company has been approved. The secured and unsecured lenders have consented to Indage Vintners’ CDR package.
“All lenders are already addressed in the business plan by (the) CDR. A small amount of lenders, non-licensed lenders and trade creditors are keen to put pressure on the business for earlier repayment which we will address in our upcoming scheme of arrangement under Sections (391) and (394) of the Companies Act, to be presented to the court in June,” Mr Chougule told Moneylife.
There have been media reports that state that Indage Vintners is likely to sell its personal property to bring in capital. However, Mr Chougule has said that the company has no plans of selling its property.
The total debt obligations have been deferred by approximately two years. The promoters of Indage Vintners are to bring in Rs75 crore to Rs100 crore as capital. The total debt of Indage Vintners stands at Rs400 crore under the corporate debt restructuring scheme. This was led by ICICI Bank while the other lenders were IndusInd Bank, Allahabad Bank, UCO Bank, IDBI Bank and Bank of Rajasthan.
The efforts that the company put in to fund its acquisitions in Australia and South Africa, might have been a gamble the company shouldn’t have taken. When the global financial crisis occurred, Indage relinquished any chances of the company walking tall again. The international market did not perform to expectations and its plans to sell exotic Indian wines in overseas markets did not materialise. Domestic demand for international wine also fell far short of the hype created by the industry itself.
On 19th March, when the Bombay High Court had passed the order for Indage to wind up operations, many players in the industry were disappointed with the decision. Bearing in mind that it was the perseverance of Shyamrao Chougule, its founder, who brought international quality wine and champagne to India in the 1980s, the nascent wine industry in the country was saddened by the decision. — Aaron Rodrigues
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