Dewan Housing Finance : Piramal Group says RBI approves its DHFL takeover

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Piramal Group said on Thursday India's central bank had approved its takeover of Dewan Housing Finance Corp, once the country's fourth largest housing finance company, before it defaulted on its debt.

Lenders voted last month in favour of the group's takeover bid, worth 372.5 billion rupees ($5.1 billion).

"The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved the DHFL resolution plan from Piramal Capital and Housing Finance, submitted by the committee of creditors," the Piramal Group said in a statement.

The RBI did not immediately respond to an email request for comment.

Discussions on restructuring DHFL's debt ran for months, with Adani Group, Piramal Group and U.S.-based asset management company Oaktree Capital Management being invited to bid for its entire loan book.

Of DHFL's total debt of almost 1 trillion rupees, banks were owed 400 billion rupees.

($1=72.7470 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Nupur Anand; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)