MUMBAI: IN a fresh turn of events, the NCLT has asked lenders of Bhushan Power & Steel Ltd. to consider Liberty House UK’s bid in the next meeting of the Committee of Creditors. Going a step further, the tribunal also extended the deadline for finalizing the resolution plan by two months, to June 23. The original 270-day deadline for the resolution process expired on April 22.
It may be noted that lenders had rejected Liberty House’s bid to acquire the distressed assets of Bhushan Power, citing late submission. The rejection prompted the company to move the NCLT, stressing that the bid was submitted before the lenders opened other bids and argued that its participation should be entertained.
On Monday, much to the relief of Liberty, the bench headed by Justice MM Kumar ruled that bids can be rejected only on substantive grounds and not because of delays.The counsel for Bhushan Power & Steel’s resolution professional argued that Liberty House went silent mid-process and did no due diligence of the facilities before submitting the bid. Between November 18, 2017 and February 13, 2018, despite repeated reminders, Liberty House did not communicate the necessary information.
As per reports, Liberty House claimed its bid was higher than other competing bids, including that of Tata Steel Ltd, which had offered `24,500 crore, while another bidder, JSW Steel Ltd, made a `13,000-crore bid. Bhushan Power & Steel owes over `47,000 crore and is one of the largest of the 12 stressed accounts identified by the RBI for resolution under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code last June.Apart from Bhushan Power & Steel, Liberty House has also bid for Amtek Auto’s assets under the insolvency process.