National Asset Reconstruction Company Limited (NARCL) emerged as the top bidder for the assets of Srei Infrastructure Finance Limited (NSEI:SREINFRA) after a lengthy auction process that ended past midnight on January 4, 2023, two people aware of the matter said. NARCL submitted the highest offer with a net present value (NPV) of INR 55,550 million, including upfront cash of INR 34,000 million and optionally convertible bonds worth INR 60,000 million. The offer is INR 10,000 million more than its bid submitted earlier and in line with lenders' expectations.

NPV measures the current value of future cash flows. Authum Investment & Infrastructure Limited (BSE:539177), the only other aspirant, revised its bid from the previous INR 28,000 million to INR 55,260 million, just INR 300 million short of the winning bid. A consortium of Värde Partners, Inc. and Arena Investors, LP quit the race in an earlier round.

The revised bids were submitted during a 10-hour "challenge mechanism" conducted by the committee of creditors (CoC) on January 3, 2023. The auction process was called after the lenders requested the bidders to improve on the initial plans submitted in early December 2022. Srei's lenders will meet on January 7, 2023, to decide on the timelines before they vote during the same week.

Lenders expect the entire process to continue till January 2023 end and hope to get an extension in the timeline from National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). Emails sent to the official NARCL address and the administrator of Srei remained unanswered.