Liberty House to move NCLT on Bhushan bid rejection

Liberty House, led by Sanjeev Gupta ( pictured), has said it will approach the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) after its bid to acquire debt-laden Bhushan Power & Steel was rejected by creditors.

“We will ask them (NCLT) to direct the RP (resolution professional) and the CoC (committee of creditors) to open our bid,” Liberty House said in a statement on Thursday.

Liberty House, worth $6.8 billion, has its eyes set on the difficult yet promising Indian market. The UK-based company has been showing an interest in NCLTlisted entities. Apart from joining the race for the Bhushan asset, the company had submitted a revised bid for Amtek Auto on February 9.

“The process is not supposed to deny creditors (an opportunity) to recover more money on these bad debts. That would not be fair as this is public money. Nowhere in the world can you have a bizarre system where creditors can deny recovery. We are hopeful the NCLT would clarify and our bid would be opened,” the company said.

Bhushan Power, an unlisted entity, owes about ~450 billion to its lenders. It has a fully-integrated 3.5-million-tonne steel plant in Odisha. It manufactures flat and long steel products, which find applications in the automobile and construction industries, respectively. Sanjay Singhal, the elder son of Brij Bhushan Singhal, is the promoter of the entity.

“Our bid was submitted before bids were opened, so nothing unfair has happened. Our bid is superior in every way,

why would the creditors reject a higher offer?” asked Liberty.

“Our roots are in India and we want to come to India. These assets are among the best in the world. They fit perfectly into our strategy for steel and for auto. Bhushan Power & Steel has the best plant in the world for automotive steel and we aim to set up an electric vehicle plant, the same model we are doing in Australia, the UK and the US,” the company said.

With a track record of turning around nearly two dozen businesses, the company said it planned to invest around $10 billion in India over the next five

years if it could buy some of the stressed assets it had bid for. Liberty House, which bought two Tata Steel mills in Britain last year, has already managed to turn the units around.

“We are willing to pay the best as we see great value in these assets. Why deny us? In fact, denying us means denying the country better recovery, both on these liquidation processes and future growth. India needs more competition than monopoly....,” said Liberty House.

Tata Steel is said to have become the top bidder for both Bhushan Steel and Bhushan Power & Steel, leaving behind the Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Steel.