Montataire (France) : ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steel maker, on Thursday asserted that its bid for debt-laden Essar Steel is “eligible” and indicated that any pay off towards outstanding dues of Uttam Galva, a firm in which it was a minority shareholder till sometime back, would be a “goodwill gesture”.
The Committee of Creditors (CoC) on Wednesday met representatives of ArcelorMittal and Numetal which are in the race to acquire the stressed asset regarding their eligibility.
“Our fundamental position is that we are eligible and in reality were never the promoters of these companies. So any discussion about repayment of any dues would be a gesture of goodwill,” Brian Aranha, executive vice-president (strategy, technology, R&D) at ArcelorMittal, said at the company’s R&D facility.
The lenders earlier had objected to ArcelorMittal’s investment in Uttam Galva on default of loan repayments to the tune of about Rs 8,000 crore.
“ArcelorMittal had written off investment of $150 million in 2015. The company has further interest in the investment,” Aranha added.
He said ArcelorMittal had initiated the declassification process as Uttam Galva’s promoter before submitting bid for Essar Steel but due to administrative delay, the declassification came after the bids submission.
ArcelorMittal had sold back its stake in Uttam Galva to its promoters to clear its bid under the Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code (IBC) as clause 29A of the code prevents promoters of defaulting companies from bidding for stressed assets.
