New Delhi : Arcelor Mittal said it was eligible under the Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code to bid for Essar Steel as it was not a promotor of Uttam Galva and KKS Petron, and had already offloaded its shares before submission of the bids.
Arguing before the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on behalf of ArcelorMittal, senior advocate Harish Salve submitted that its eligibility should be judged as on the date of submission of the resolution plan for Essar Steel. “ArcelorMittal is not a shareholder in Uttam Galva as on February 7 and on February 9 it was not a shareholder of KSS Petron… We have (ArcelorMittal) submitted bid on February 12,” said Salve. He further contended that it never had any management control in Uttam Galva.
“ArcelorMittal never exercised any of the rights under the shareholders agreement, never appointed any directors to the board of Uttam Galva and never involved itself in the management and policy decisions of Uttam Galva,” Salve said. Section 29 A of IBC bars participation by promoters of delinquent companies in bidding for assets being auctioned.
