Piramal Wins the DHFL Battle

The home finance company is key to his future plans in the financial sector, but the billionaire entrepreneur may have to wait longer to actually take over the troubled lender.

- ANTO T. JOSEPH

FOR AJAY G. PIRAMAL, the 65-year-old billionaire owner of Piramal Capital and Housing Finance Company (PCHFL), the battle is only half won. The long-drawn bidding for troubled home lender DHFL is nearly over, and Piramal’s resolution plan has been officially chosen as the best among the three—the others being the U.S.-based Oaktree Capital, and the Adani Group. But Piramal may have to wait a little longer for all the approvals to come and litigation, if any, be completed. Lenders and their consultants suspect that Oaktree and the big fixed-deposit holders may drag the issue to court. Even so, it’s not as if there are many slips between the cup and the lip.

“We are not desperate in our attempt,” Piramal had told Fortune India in December soon after he wrote a letter to the Reserve Bank of India-appointed administrator of DHFL and sweetened the deal, making a strong case for his resolution plan.