Fashion Brand Provogue Will Be Liquidated, Orders NCLT

Readymade Fashion Brand Provogue India has been ordered for liquidation by the two-judge division bench of National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) as the lenders did not agree on the offers on the table for the company.

Readymade garment maker Provogue India has been ordered for liquidation by the two-judge division bench of National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) as the lenders did not agree on the offers on the table for the company.

The division bench led by BP Mohan and V Nallasenapathy pronounced an oral order on Monday. The written order will upon the NCLT website soon. The case was filed by Andra Bank on July 25, 2018. After one year of insolvency, the process culminated on Monday with NCLT ordering the liquidation of the company.

“The only outside offer that was presented was not acceptable to the committee of creditors (CoC). There was one from the promoters as well, which was also rejected and that has meant that the company is now headed for liquidation,” said Nishit Dhruva, managing partner at MDP & Partners, the firm that represented the CoC.

The Committee of Creditors (CoC) was headed by Andhra Bank, which was the leading lender to the company with Rs. 81 crore. Other banks in the consortium were Bank of India (BoI), Corporation Bank, Punjab National Bank (PNB), IndusInd Bank and Central Bank of India.

Already in 2016, the owners Chaturvedi Family lost the control of the company after the group of lenders acquired a majority stake following non-payment of dues and restructuring of debt. This group was led by Andhra Bank which acquired a 51 percent stake in Provogue by swapping debt into equity in 2016.

Provogue is an indie clothing and accessories retail brand which was launched in 1997 and is based in Mumbai. It was launched as a menswear fashion brand for contemporary clothing. Over the years the brand has expanded its collection of men’s and women’s fashion apparel and accessories.

During its peak in 2011, the company had 350 stores in 73 cities and launched its e-commerce platform in 2013. It was also the chief sponsor of the controversial Indian Cricket League. The company has own garment manufacturing facilities in Daman and in Baddi, Himachal Pradesh. The company expanded from menswear to womenswear and in accessories, including watches, footwear, and sunglasses.

With this, another old Indian brand is getting bankrupt. This is a sad state of the Indian market where the old brands are filing for bankruptcy.