Cosmea-Piramal consortium pulls out of Reliance Capital's bidding

Cites unreasonable new base price of Rs 6,500 cr; 'previous offer still valid'

Just a day before the auction to sell Reliance Capital’s assets begins, the Cosmea Financial Holdings-Piramal Group combine has pulled out of the bidding process, citing “unreasonable” new base price of Rs 6,500 crore to participate in the auction.

The Cosmea-Piramal combine had submitted the highest binding bid for Reliance Capital, but lenders had decided to seek better offers via an electronic auction.

According to Cosmea-Piramal officials, the contours of the bidding process have been significantly altered, with the base bid going up by Rs 1,300 crore over and above its highest bid of Rs 5,330 crore, to start participating