PE-backed Adlabs Entertainment dragged to bankruptcy court

By Beena Parmar

  • 07 Jun 2019
Credit: Thinkstock

Weeks after private equity firm ICICI Venture exited Adlabs Entertainment Ltd with a huge haircut, a lender to the theme park operator has dragged it to the bankruptcy court.

In a stock-exchange filing, Adlabs said that Corporation Bank has initiated corporate insolvency resolution proceedings in connection with a default of Rs 68.84 crore.

The company’s total debt stood at around Rs 1,104 crore, as per its annual report for the financial year 2017-18.

Apart from Corporation Bank, Adlabs’ other lenders include Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India, Vijaya Bank, Life Insurance Corporation and Tourism Finance Corporation of India.

Last month, the private equity arm of private-sector lender ICICI Bank had sold its entire stake in Adlabs.

Adlabs had raised Rs 144 crore ($23 million then) from ICICI Venture in 2013 for its flagship project Adlabs Imagica.

Imagica is a theme park situated in Khopoli on the Mumbai-Pune expressway. Spread across 300 acres, the theme park has two dozen rides. Adlabs expanded the project to include a water park and a three-star family hotel.

Promoted by Manmohan Shetty, Adlabs went public in 2014.

Mid-market private equity firm NYLIM Jacob Ballas, through two of its investment vehicles, owned 5.96% stake in Adlabs Entertainment as of March 2019.