Aditya Birla Asset Reconstruction Company said it will wind down operations in India. Making it the latest fund-backed ARC to close shop amid pressure from domestic. International investors to provide clarity on portfolio management strategy. The move comes at a time when ARCs across the industry are facing increasing pressures from a complex mix of regulatory, financial, and competitive factors.
Aditya Birla: Reasons Behind Decline in India’s ARC Sector
The ARC sector in India has witnessed considerable contraction over recent years, mainly due to a significant decline in non-performing loans (NPLs). NPLs have, in fact, just touched a 12-year low, with a large part of this drive having come from Insolvency. Bankruptcy Code 2016 and National Asset Reconstruction Company, which is a government-backed ARC. encourages asset owners to settle quickly. And the distressed assets, in consequence, have drastically shrunk for private ARCs.
This has been yet another bane on private ARCs. Their structure, with an offering of 15% upfront cash and balance in SRs backed by the government. While reducing financial risks to banks since it has a government behind NARCL, ARCs need to bid with 100% cash component raising the same and reducing appeals for the lenders.
Aditya Birla: Difficulty in Private ARCs
The structure of ARCs in India is changing, which appears to be government-dominated; this is making the survival of Private ARCs difficult for several reasons:-
Increasingly greater Regulatory oversight on ARC. Along with the ever-growing Minimum Net worth Requirements imposed upon ARC, it has mounted an extra layer of burden in the pockets of Smaller and newer players.
Besides, being Banks also find NARCLs and more aligned to a lot of extent to this proposition. Competitive terms hence Private ARCs face considerable stress.
Decreased Availability of Distressed Assets: With the IBC and early settlements reducing levels of NPLs, the pool of distressed assets available to ARCs is shrinking. This reduces the scope for private ARCs to expand.
Investor Preference Shift from ARC Equity to SR Investments: There has been a strong shift in investor preference that is now more skewed toward security receipt (SR) investments rather than long-term ARC equity. The SR market has grown significantly. Investments have increased from ₹500 crore in 2017 to ₹30,000 crore by 2023. In the last few quarters, SR redemptions have surpassed issuances, which reflects a negative AUM trend for ARCs.
Growing Investor Appetite for Single SR Trades
Single SR has become the preferred investment type instead of traditional long-term equity in ARCs, and this is an offshoot of the adaptation made by the market in a regulatory and economic environment which allows investors to make short-term commitments. During both the June and September quarters, redemptions worth ₹6,310 crore and ₹6,852 crore, respectively, were more than the SR issuances during the period, and this actually led to a decrease in the assets managed by ARC.
Pros in Unsecured and Microfinance Sectors
While these are challenges, there might be potential for an uptick in distressed assets coming from the unsecured retail loan and microfinance sectors, which are also beginning to reflect an increase in bad loans. This can lead to renewed opportunities for ARCs in the medium to long term. India’s NPL market has the potential to be a “global NPL supermarket,” according to Hari Hara Mishra, CEO of the Association of ARCs in India. International investor interest is being drawn because of diverse asset categories and sizes.
Future of India’s ARC Market
Such has been the improvement in India’s ARC sector through reforms this year. Increased transparency and improvements in disclosures made by ARC firms on the regulatory front have also been seen. However, according to Mishra, “regulatory cholesterol” levels have to go down, not up. For private ARCs to stay on top of their game. Regulatory facilitation and a healthy balance in competition are essentials that help them attract and keep investment.
Conclusion
The latest high-profile exit in India’s ARC industry comes after Arcion Revitalization and Lone Star. Which had earlier shut their new acquisitions. A sector that was seen to be undergoing a transformation with the advent of SR transactions. A government-backed ARC model has witnessed a fundamental change. Though the immediate prospects remain challenging, the sector is expected to be positive on the long-term side with increased interest in distressed assets across different segments.
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