New Delhi : The Committee of Creditors has rejected the bid of UK-based Liberty House to acquire Bhushan Power and Steel, leaving Tata Steel and JSW Steel in the race for taking over the assets of the bankrupt firm, a source said.
“Committee of creditors (COC) in a meeting on Wednesday has rejected the bids of Liberty House (of the UK) because the company submitted the bids after the last date of submission date which was February 8,” a source privy to the development said.
Liberty House had submitted the bid on Wednesday, he said.
In COC meeting on Wednesday the bids of Tata Steel and JSW Steel were disclosed and now the process as well as legal advisors evaluate them, the source said. The detailed terms and conditions of the bids were disclosed to the lenders at the meeting.
Bhushan Steel owes about Rs 45,000 crore to its lenders. When contacted, Resolution Professional (RP) Mahender Kumar Khandelwal declined to comment on the developments. The source said that while Tata Steel offered Rs 17,000 crore to the lenders as upfront amount and Rs 7,200 crore for operations of Bhushan, JSW made an offer of Rs 11,000 crore to the lenders and Rs 2,000 crore for the operations of the power firm.
The COC will now meet on March 6 to take the process forward, including declaration of the highest bidder. Bhushan Steel was among the 12 non-performing accounts referred by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) proceedings. The insolvency process was filed by SBI, the lead bank of the consortium of lenders, in the case of Bhushan Steel while a similar plea was filed by PNB against Bhushan Steel.
Two-way fight
Tata Steel offered Rs 17,000 cr to the lenders as upfront amount and Rs 7,200 cr for operations of Bhushan.
JSW made an offer of Rs 11,000 cr to the lenders and Rs 2,000 cr for the operations of the firm.
Bhushan owes about Rs 45,000 crore to its lenders.
