Two more lenders of Wockhardt, Barclays Capital and Calyon, the latter being the corporate and investment banking arm of the Crédit Agricole group, have petitioned the High Court here to liquidate the assets of the debt-ridden drug major and distribute its proceeds to lenders.
Sources said the two investment banks have filed independently. Barclays filed its petition three weeks earlier. Last month, another lender, Singapore-based DBS, had filed a winding-up petition with the HC, following legal notices it had sent to the pharma company in September.
Another Foreign Currency Convertible Bond (FCCB) holder, BNY Corporate Trustee Services Ltd, had also sent notices to the company.
The petitioners are questioning the corporate debt restructuring (CDR) exercise that Wockhardt is undertaking. They say the process was unilateral and without following Reserve Bank of India rules, which say 75 per cent of the lenders must approve such a scheme. Some of the lenders are also opposing the buyback options for FCCBs at a discount to the conversion price, offered as part of the CDR package.
DBS had earlier asked for an interim order to restrain Wockhardt from selling assets, which the Court declined to give, said sources. Instead, the Court directed Wockhardt to inform the Court if it affected a sale of assets in the period before the next hearing on November 27. DBS holds a good share of Wockhardt's $110 million zero-coupon FCCBs, which matured on October 25.
A Wockhardt spokesperson declined to comment on the developments. Sources said the HC heard DBS' counsel today and the petition may come up for hearing next week.
The CDR Empowered Group headed by ICICI Bank had approved the Wockhardt package on June 30, three months after the company was referred to the CDR cell. The holders would have two options, a cash buyback or exchange of existing bonds to the preference shares of the company, equivalent to the redemption value.
In the first option, the company will buy back the bonds only if the holders offer an average discount in excess of 65 per cent of the redemption value. By the second option, half the preference shares will be optionally convertible to equity after October 25, 2015, at the then applicable Sebi (the market regulator’s) formula. The balance half will be given a cumulative dividend and redeemed at a premium of 38 per cent, on December 31, 2018.
