Bhushan Power CoC likely to meet today

The committee of creditors (CoC) for Bhushan Power & Steel is likely to meet on Tuesday to take a call on revised bids.

All three bidders of Bhushan Power & Steel — Tata Steel, JSW Steel and Liberty House — had the opportunity of submitting revised bids on Monday according to the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) order. According to information, Tata Steel has submitted a revised bid. Asked about Tata Steel's participation, Koushik Chatterjee, executive director and chief financial officer, Tata Steel, declined to comment.

At the time of going to press, JSW had not submitted its bid, but was expected to, after the time for bid submission had been extended.

According to sources, the upfront offer to lenders could be upwards of ~210 billion, up from ~186 billion offered by Liberty House.

But even though in terms of upfront offer, Liberty House's offer was the highest in the last round, Tata Steel had been selected as the H1 bidder and JSW Steel as the H2 bidder, as lenders were not convinced with Liberty's funding arrangements.

The revised bid was prompted by a revision in bid by JSW Steel last month from ~110 billion to ~180 billion ahead of a CoC meeting to finalise bids.

Tata Steel had, however, opposed the rebid in the NCLAT and Supreme Court. The matter is being heard, but Supreme Court refused to stay the rebid. A hearing in the NCLAT is slated for August 17.

The Bhushan Power case has seen many twists and turns over the past some weeks.

In June end, Tata Steel was communicated that it was the highest qualified bidder. However, fresh submissions from operational creditors and Liberty House stayed the voting on the resolution plan.

Last month, JSW Steel revised the bid, which led the CoC to call for revised offers. But Tata Steel moved the NCLAT, which asked the CoC to decide on existing resolution plans. Accordingly, Tata Steel was again selected as the highest qualified bidder. However, later, the NCLAT decided to allow revised bids, but Tata Steel moved Supreme Court. In view of the Supreme Court hearing on August 10, the NCLAT shifted the deadline for revised bids to August 13.

Bhushan Power has a 3 million tonne steelmaking capacity, which could be ramped up. It owes lenders around ~470 billion.