India's Reliance, Adani among 49 bidders for debt-ridden Future Retail

Companies led by Indian billionaires Gautam Adani and Mukesh Ambani, a British retailer and global asset reconstruction firms are among the 49 entities in the fray to acquire Future Retail Ltd, the debt-laden Indian retailer said on Monday.

Reliance Retail, part of Ambani's Reliance Industries Ltd as well as April Moon Retail Pvt Ltd, a joint venture between Flemingo group and Gautam Adani-led Adani Airport Holdings, have submitted expressions of interest (EoIs), an exchange filing by Future Retail showed.

Other entities that have submitted EOIs include London-based retailer WH Smith, a consortium led by U.S.-based restructuring firm Gordon Brothers, J.C. Flowers Asset Reconstruction, India's Jindal Power, and individual investor Harsha Vardhan Reddy.

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Future Retail's court-appointed resolution professional held a second round of EoIs since the first did not have enough participants, the Economic Times daily reported.

Future Retail, once India's second-largest retailer, was dragged into bankruptcy proceedings by banks after it defaulted on loans and its lenders also rejected a $3.4 billion buyout by Reliance amid a legal challenge by Amazon.com Inc.

Reliance Retail, Jindal Power, J.C. Flowers, WH Smith and Gordon Brothers did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.