Patanjali Group rebuts media reports mentioning it in news relating to wilful defaulter list

The statement further said: "Patanjali Group completed the acquisition of RSIL by way of equity and syndicated loans in line with the standard industry practice of funding acquisitions.The pledge of the entire shareholding of RSIL is a part of sanction terms of syndicated loans as required by the lenders for funding the acquisition." "Name of RSIL/its erstwhile promoters still appears in the list of Wilful Defaulters of CIBIL as classified by the old lenders of RSIL.

The Patanjali Group has strongly rebutted the media stories containing its name while reporting the news relating to wilful defaulter list, terming it as 'an attempt to defame the company maliciously and unnecessarily dragging its name in rumour mongering stories.'

"Some of the sections of print and electronic media have reported the name of Patanjali Group while reporting the news relating to wilful defaulter list. At the outset, Patanjali Group strongly rebuts all these baseless and unfounded news reports as surfaced in the last 2-3 days," said the business entity in a statement on Wednesday.

Patanjali further "rubbishes these reports and considers it as an attempt of defaming the company maliciously and unnecessarily dragging its name in rumour mongering stories.'

"Patanjali always believes in ethical business practices, respecting the laws of the land and further steadfast its commitment to good corporate governance practices, which are always subjected to statutory and regulatory norms of the country," the statement reads.

Clarifying its position on the acquisition of Ruchi Soya Ltd, Patanjali Group in the statement stated that "the Group had bid for the acquisition of assets of Ruchi Soya Industries Limited (RSIL) under the NCLT route."

"Patanjali Group submitted the resolution plan to the lenders of RISL, which was subsequently approved by the lenders of RISL and NCLT in July 2019. The lenders and the NCLT approved the resolution plan based on credibility and strength of Patanjali Group as the new management of RSIL and viability of new business plans."

The statement continued: "The resolution plan for RSIL submitted by Patanjali Group was further subjected to stringent assessment and appraisal system of lenders and the same being vetted by their technical ad legal agencies. The acquisition of RSIL was completed on December 18, 2019, in the utmost fair and transparent manner with all norms being followed and approved by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT)."

"The NCLT is a quasi-judicial body in India that adjudicates issues relating to Indian compes and facilitates Resolution of Insolvency cases in line with the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) 2016 as amended from time to time," said the statement.

"As on September 2019, RSIL was not part of Patanjali Group and Patanjali Group had nothing to do with the loans borrowed by RSIL then," said the Patanjali Group.

The statement further said: "Patanjali Group completed the acquisition of RSIL by way of equity and syndicated loans in line with the standard industry practice of funding acquisitions. The equity infused by Patanjali Group was entirely from its own internal accruals/sources. Media reports of lenders funding equity contribution are completely baseless and unfounded. The pledge of the entire shareholding of RSIL is a part of sanction terms of syndicated loans as required by the lenders for funding the acquisition."

"Name of RSIL/its erstwhile promoters still appears in the list of Wilful Defaulters of CIBIL as classified by the old lenders of RSIL. Patanjali Group has obtained 'No Dues Certificate' from all erstwhile lenders of RSIL at the time of acquisition. Patanjali Group has nothing to do with the erstwhile promoters of RSIL and they being classified as Wilful Defaulter by the Past lenders of RSIL," added the statement.

( With inputs from ANI )